But several commissioners said during the board’s virtual meeting Tuesday morning that officials and board members at PSEG told them they would close the nuclear plants for anything less than the full $300 million subsidy.
“Apparently the legislature’s call for data-based decision making, months of analysis by various consultants, and the preparation of voluminous reports by numerous parties were a meaningless exercise,” said Commissioner Bob Gordon. “Personally, I’m very disappointed by the level of intransigence in this exercise of market power.”
PSEG CEO Ralph Izzo previously said before the BPU and in an earnings call that the company would actually need more than the full amount allowed under the law to operate the plants. The cost of operating nuclear plants and complying with strict regulations, lower prices driven by an increase in natural gas production, and the lack of a nationwide greenhouse gas emissions policy has put PSEG’s nuclear energy sector on uns
Asbury Park Press
New Jersey electric consumers will continue a bail out of the state s nuclear fleet, a decision regulators said will keep the plants open and avoid dirtying energy generation in the Garden State.
Public Service Enterprise Group, the majority owner of the Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations in Lower Alloways Creek, Salem County, had threatened to shutter the plants should the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities fail to grant $300 million in yearly subsidies to PSEG and its partner Exelon Corp.
The round of funding was first approved in 2019, amounting to a charge of about $30 to $40 a year on residential electric bills depending on how much electricity they use. The subsidies unanimously approved on Tuesday continue the payments for another three years.
PSEG Applauds BPU s Decision to Extend Zero Emission Certificates (ZECs) for an Additional Three Years to New Jersey s Nuclear Plants
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NEWARK, N.J., April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Today, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) unanimously voted to extend the Zero Emission Certificates (ZECs) for New Jersey s three nuclear power plants, Hope Creek and Salem 1 and 2, for an additional three years.
In 2018, the New Jersey Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphy enacted legislation that established a Zero Emission Certificate program to preserve nuclear plants that provide more than 90% of the state s carbon-free electricity. In the state s Energy Master Plan and the Department of Environmental Protection s Global Warming Response Act 80x50 report, New Jersey indicated its intent to preserve its carbon-free nuclear generating resources into the 2050s to meet its 100% clean energy goals.
April 27, 2021
1:44 pm
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved PSEG’s bid for a second round of $300 million in annual subsidies, which it argued is vital to keep its nuclear plants open, in spite of personal reservations and skepticism from several of the state’s commissioners.
Under the resolutions approved by the NJBPU on April 27, PSEG’s three nuclear plants – Hope Creek, and Salem 1 and 2 – will get a combined $300 million in annual subsidies over three years, totaling $900 million.
PSEG and Exelon, which also owns Salem 1 and 2, contend that the aging plants are no longer profitable because of the costs of upkeep and the much lower costs of natural gas. All three sites were approved unanimously by the five commissioners.
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