Legislative News:
Christine Lee: Nuclear Update
About two months ago, I wrote about a bill in the state legislature that would lift the current moratorium against new nuclear (and coal) power plants in our fair state. While I think that nuclear energy has the potential to be a viable energy option in Minnesota in our future, I did not think that Minnesota should have to serve as the guinea pig for nuclear energy.
Well, time moved on as it always seems to do and last week, the bill came up.
 |
| Christine Lee |
The House approved the bill, officially lifting the 16-year ban on nuclear power plants, but also applied new, rigid restrictions on power plants. The new conditions include:
• If a utility company is building a new nuclear power plant, they can not recover any costs of planning, designing, engineering or permitting costs from ratepayers or users until the new plant starts operating;
• When building a new nuclear power plant, the utility company can not recover any construction cost overruns from ratepayers; and
• Taxes may not be used for any construction or operating expenses.
Basically, the new bill says that ratepayers will only be bound to costs for specific promises related to the new plant, and only once those promises have been fulfilled. This protects Minnesotans from being unfairly charged for new nuclear power plant projects, which has happened in other states. So, even though this new bill does lift the moratorium on nuclear power plants, it makes it so expensive for a utility company to build a plant that companies will likely not opt to build a plant in Minnesota. Ultimately, this new bill is “not intended to do anything other than have a discussion about nuclear power,” said Representative Bill Hilty, author of the bill’s new conditions.
All things considered, this is a mediocre compromise in my eyes. While the tough restrictions do make it very difficult for a new nuclear power plant to be built, it still undoes the official ban. It is only a matter of time before an energy company does come up with the money to build a new nuclear power plant, and then we will be faced with a new set of difficult issues, including the age-old question of how to store of radioactive waste.
However, to end on a positive note: the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to uphold the state’s ban on new coal-fired power plants last week. While it may be unclear what WILL be in included in the energy portfolio of the future, at least we can say with confidence what WON’T be included.
Christine Lee grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and recently graduated from the University of Minnesota.
