Roundup: Edwards in Washington / US casinos / New Entergy organization Â
Lease moratorium: Gov. John Bel Edwards will testify before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday in Washington, D.C., about recent federal offshore oil and gas developments, WAFB-TV reports. Specifically, he plans to address the adverse impact that the moratorium on oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico will have on Louisianaâs economy. Read the full story.Â
Revenues up: America’s commercial casinos matched their best quarter ever in the first three months of this year, as customers continued returning amid the COVID-19 pandemic and internet and sports betting money helped boost revenue numbers. Figures released this morning by the American Gaming Association, the casino industry’s national trade group, show the nation’s commercial casinos took in over $11.1 billion in the first quarter of this year. That matched the industry’s best quarter in history, the
Biden administration to subsidise nuclear reactors on the pretext of stopping climate change?
An activist group slammed the of tax credits for aging plants saying it would slow deployment of renewable energy like wind and solar power. “A nuclear bailout is wrong for taxpayers, wrong for ratepayers, and wrong for the climate,” said Lukas Ross, program manager at Friends of the Earth.
U.S. eyes nuclear reactor tax credit to meet climate goals -sources, Reuters, Timothy GardnerJarrett Renshaw , 4 May 21, The White House has signaled privately to lawmakers and stakeholders in recent weeks that it supports taxpayer subsidies to keep nuclear facilities from closing and making it harder to meet U.S. climate goals, three sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
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Surry Nuclear Plant Gets 20-Year Extension as Indian Point Goes Dark
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved 20-year subsequent renewed licenses (SRLs) for Dominion Energy Virginia’s Surry Power Station Units 1 and 2 near Newport News, Virginia, making them only the fifth and sixth reactors in the U.S. cleared to operate for 60 to 80 years.
But the number of operating U.S. nuclear reactors fell to 93 as Indian Point Energy Center Unit 3 in Buchanan, New York, powered down for the last time on April 30. The 45-year-old, 1,041-MW unit, remarkably, ran 753 days a world record for commercial light water reactors before it closed, said its owner and operator, Entergy Corp.
âA bailout for existing reactors is wrong for the climate and wrong for consumers,â said Lukas Ross, program manager at Friends of the Earth, a progressive environmental group based in Washington. âCongress and the Biden administration should not throw good money after bad investments.â
A tax credit for nuclear plants could be a boon for nuclear operators such as Southern Co. and Exelon Corp., as well as for uranium miners like Lakewood, Colorado-based Energy Fuels, Inc. It has been endorsed by both congressional Republicans, as well as the Trump administration, which sought ways to help the nuclear industry.
Backers include the Nuclear Energy Institute, which has for years sought a tax credit for nuclear, and last year said a 30% investment tax credit was needed to help the industry weather âsevere financial strainâ wrought by the pandemic.
Biden wants the U.S. power industry to be emissions free by 2035. He is also asking Congress to extend or create tax credits aimed at wind, solar and battery manufacturing as part of his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan.