{"id":548,"date":"2019-02-12T16:12:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T22:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/?p=548"},"modified":"2021-07-12T11:55:35","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T16:55:35","slug":"lawmakers-work-save-pa-nuclear-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/lawmakers-work-save-pa-nuclear-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Lawmakers Plan To Save Nuclear Power Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PA
A bipartisan coalition seeks to save PA’s Nuclear power plants by adding them to the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act.
It could also add to your electric bill.<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are Pennsylvania\u2019s nuclear power plants going to close?<\/h2>\n

In order to save Pennsylvania\u2019s Three Mile Island and Beaver Valley nuclear plants from closure, legislators say they will soon introduce a bill to add nuclear power to the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS). The change in the act will bolster the nuclear plants’ profitability versus cheaper natural gas and renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n

What is the\u00a0Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act?<\/h3>\n

A bipartisan group of lawmakers issued a memo stating they will seek to modify the state\u2019s alternative energy requirements to include nuclear power. The Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, passed in 2004, provides incentives to energy sources with low carbon footprints, such as wind, solar and hydroelectric. It also requires 18% of the state\u2019s electricity<\/a> come from clean or renewable energy sources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time that we finally acknowledge nuclear generation for its considerable zero-carbon energy production by including it in Pennsylvania\u2019s AEPS program,\u201d the memo states. \u201cIn so doing, we can ensure that nuclear continues to provide the employment, economic, environmental and grid resilience benefits for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawmakers claim that Pennsylvania\u2019s five nuclear power plants generate 42% of the state\u2019s electricity<\/a> and 93% of the state\u2019s zero-carbon electricity. Despite this, nuclear energy is not a part of the AEPS program.<\/p>\n

What will happen if the plants close?<\/h3>\n

Three Mile Island is scheduled to close this September, and Beaver Valley in 2021. \u201cTo be clear, this shutdown process is irreversible, thereby guaranteeing the permanent loss of Pennsylvania\u2019s nuclear assets,\u201d the lawmakers said in the memo. The Three Mile Island plant holds a 829-MW reactor<\/a>, while Beaver Valley operates a 1,872-MW reactor. The memo also warned that the state\u2019s other three nuclear generator plants are \u201clikely not far behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nuclear Powers Pennsylvania group agrees with the lawmakers\u2019 proposal. “Allowing any nuclear plant in the Commonwealth to close would have significant consequences for fuel diversity<\/a>, resiliency, the environment, customers and the state’s economy.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts claim that four of the five of the state\u2019s other nuclear plants were profitable last year. They warn the proposal would \u201cburden Pennsylvania consumers with higher electricity bills<\/a> to fund a nuclear bailout tax, which would benefit already profitable nuclear power corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

No timeline has been given for when the bill may be introduced, nor did lawmakers call the proposal a \u201cbailout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay up to date on electricity matters with PA Ratings!<\/h3>\n

You can keep up to date with future news on Pennsylvania\u2019s nuclear power plants right here, and you can head over to https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/electricity-rates<\/a> to explore what Pennsylvania energy plans are available right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are Pennsylvania\u2019s nuclear power plants going to close? In order to save […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false},"categories":[2,3,4,5,9,47,64,48,58],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1734,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548\/revisions\/1734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}