After budget negotiations went two months past deadline, the New York State Legislature has only a few days left for other bills. The most important thing it can do now is pass the NYS Ratepayer Protection Nuclear Moratorium Act (S9962/A11433), which would pause new nuclear power projects in New York for 2.5 years to assess the costs and impacts.
Governor Hochul plans to build 5 more gigawatts of nuclear power, multiplying New York’s nuclear generation 2.5 times. She directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to just get it done, without accounting for the costs, impacts on ratepayers’ electric bills, or public health and safety.
In their “pre-development efforts” NYPA is spending tens of millions on a first 1-gigawatt nuclear plant, including issuing requests for proposals. A copy of one of those proposals, submitted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), was obtained by FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request. It came back heavily redacted with many pages blacked out.
In what still can be read, BGC blithely estimates the cost will be between $2 billion and $10 billion per gigawatt, and mentions that “100%+ capital cost overruns” are common in nuclear projects.
In other words, each gigawatt of the five gigawatts of new nuclear Hochul wants to build could cost $20 billion or more. Last year NYSERDA noted that the only real-world comparables, two recently completed 1.1 gigawatt reactors at Georgia’s Vogtle plant, “were originally estimated to cost $13 billion…but eventually cost $32 billion.” The final cost might be $38 billion.
Rather than new nuclear’s costs, boosters have tried to focus attention on its jobs. A proposed 1-gigawatt new nuclear plant in Massena, New York, promises 500-800 jobs, but even assuming lowball industry estimates of $6-9 billion to build it (not counting another $22 billion for transmission upgrades), each job would cost $11-12 million.
That’s a preposterous amount of money, especially compared to renewables. New York’s “cap-and-invest” policy would invest $4.69 billion in heat pumps, EV charging stations, wind and solar, creating 30,000 jobs at a cost of $158,000 each, not $11-12 million or more. One gigawatt of solar or onshore wind costs just $1 or $1.5 billion to build (offshore wind can cost $4 to $6 billion), not $20 billion or more. Yet Hochul delayed implementation of cap-and-invest, and chose to promote new nuclear.
“Renewables is the cheapest and most easily scalable, so I’m scratching my head as to why New York is focused on the most expensive and longest to deploy energy option that would be paid for on the backs of ratepayers and taxpayers, when we have an energy affordability crisis,” said NYS Assembly Member Jo Ann Simon at a recent press briefing on the nuclear moratorium bill, which she co-sponsored.
“New Yorkers deserve to have an assessment done before embarking on five reactors estimated to cost $20 billion each,” said moratorium co-sponsor New York state Senator Kevin Parker. “It is what any business or government would insist on doing for a multi-billion dollar project.”
So why wouldn’t we conduct an evidence-based assessment before committing State funding to what could easily be a hundred-billion-plus dollar project, for which New York taxpayers and ratepayers will be on the hook?
Whether you’re for or against nuclear expansion, an assessment ought to be a matter of basic fiscal responsibility. NYSERDA, NYPA and the Public Service Commission don’t have the jurisdiction or expertise to conduct one. The nuclear moratorium bill creates a task force of credentialed experts with no ties to the nuclear industry who can do it.
In 2012, when fracking companies tried to push into New York, there was little known about fracking’s impacts. Then as now, the State budget was late and legislators were divided. But they did the responsible thing, and on June 20 passed a bill requiring an objective study. The administration took the time to conduct it, and Governor Cuomo abided by its findings.
They did it then; we can do it now. The Ratepayer Protection Nuclear Moratorium Act is not a ban on nuclear expansion; it’s simply a recognition that an assessment of the costs and risks is necessary due diligence before proceeding. Hochul’s nuclear expansion is too big and consequential to get rammed through without it.
