The natural gas boom that has hammered coal mines and driven down utility bills is hitting nuclear power plants, sending multi-billion-dollar energy companies in search of a financial rescue in states where competitive electricity markets have compounded the effect.
The plant owners' strategy is similar to that in Illinois and New York: give nuclear power megawatts the kind of preferential treatment and premium payments that are given to renewable energies, such as wind and solar.
New Jersey is in on the act. Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG) succeeded in getting a nuclear “bailout” bill through the legislature and sent to Governor Murphy. The same bill required a compromise, via a companion bill, creating massive new subsidies--labeled “incentives,” not bailouts) for unreliables solar and wind.
As usual, cronyism breeds cronyism. “That guy’s getting a subsidy, so why not me.” How about eliminating the "preferential treatment and premium payments" throughout the energy industry, and letting market forces—the cumulative individual voluntary choices of producers and consumers—determine energy sources?
Related Reading:
Free the Market to Sort Out the Future Course of the Energy Industry
If ‘Renewable Energy’ Technology Has Truly ‘Proven Itself,’ Why Does the Renewable Industry Need NJ’s 80% 'Renewable' Mandate?
Climate Change Catastrophists Who Oppose Nuclear have Anti-Humanist Premises
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