New Jersey Isn't Waiting for Trump to Come Up With a Nuclear Fix

(Bloomberg) -- While the Trump administration’s efforts to bolster money-losing nuclear plants have hit a potential hitch, New Jersey may press ahead with a rescue plan of its own.

Lawmakers are exploring legislation after the state’s biggest utility warned that its reactors are at risk of being shut down in the next two years without a “safety net” because they’ll be unable to cover their costs. Nuclear accounts for almost half of the electricity generated in New Jersey.

New Jersey is under pressure to emulate action taken by New York, Illinois and possibly Connecticut in propping up power plants that have been hammered by cheap natural gas and competition from renewables. Meanwhile, the nation’s top energy regulator has asked for extra time to consider Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal to reward coal and nuclear plants for their resilience.

“Nuclear generating units are struggling to remain economically viable in a sustained period of depressed wholesale electric prices,” Ralph Izzo, chief executive officer of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said in testimony prepared for a hearing in the state capital of Trenton on Dec. 4.

PSEG owns and operates the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear power plants in Salem County. Together, they make up the second-largest commercial nuclear generating facility in the U.S., according to Izzo.

Signaled Support

Moves are afoot to draw up a bill, Bob Smith, chairman of the state senate’s environment and energy committee, said by phone Friday. “We’ve been drafting, drafting and drafting some more,” he said. “We may or may not be able to get it done.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose term expires next month, signaled support on Dec. 6 for a bill that would help keep the state’s reactors running.

However, any legislation to keep reactors open is sure to stir opposition and legal challenges from rival generators who have waged a campaign against similar measures in other states, on concern they’ll be left at a disadvantage.

“We don’t see the need to hastily jam through a nuclear-bailout bill during the lame-duck legislative session for something this important, something that needs thoughtful consideration,” said David Gaier, a spokesman for NRG Energy Inc.

Environmental groups have already weighed in, with the Natural Resources Defense Council slamming the move to “ram through a multibillion-dollar subsidy package for the state’s currently thriving nuclear plants.”

--With assistance from Elise Young

To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York at jpolson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Stephen Cunningham, Joe Carroll

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