Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation Wednesday that would alter the permitting process for new nuclear power facilities to remove what the administration called a de facto moratorium on new plants.
The changes to permits under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act are meant to draw new nuclear generation to the state amid rising electricity prices that have placed some New Jerseyans under a cost crunch.
“For too long, outdated laws have kept us from even considering new nuclear facilities,” Sherrill said at the signing at the Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Salem County. “One law required any new projects to point to a method of disposal that, quite literally, does not exist. It was written in the 1970s, tied to a technological requirement that made sense then but not today.”
The United States has no facilities to dispose of high-level waste like spent fuel rods, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and New Jersey’s prior regulations required the state Department of Environmental Protection to reject permits for new nuclear facilities that did not identify a safe method of disposal.
That created a de facto moratorium on new nuclear plants in the state. The new law allows such plants to obtain a permit if they proffer a safe method of storage or disposal, instead of just the latter.
States across the country, including those on the 13-state grid used by New Jersey, have seen electricity prices soar as artificial intelligence data centers’ projected power needs push electricity demand to new heights, spiking prices and threatening long-run reliability.
Sherrill, a Democrat who campaigned on freezing electricity rates and expanding the state’s power generation, aims to encourage the construction of a new nuclear plant in Salem County.
“By her actions today, we are sending a strong message that New Jersey is available and ready and is willing to look at opportunities to expand nuclear in the future,” said Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), a sponsor of the legislation. “It is a great, great first step.”
Nuclear power plants are a long-term investment. Though they provide large amounts of reliable power — New Jersey’s two nuclear plants account for about 40% of in-state generation — they also take roughly a decade to construct and cost billions of dollars to stand up.
The governor has turned to solar power and battery storage to help New Jersey meet growing energy needs in the short term.
Though those projects provide smaller amounts of power less reliably, they can be deployed within two years. Despite the relatively small amounts of power battery storage and solar plants generate, they can have a significant effect on prices because the impact of electricity demand is magnified when it edges close to available supply.
“We’re open for business. We want to make something happen down here,” said Public Service Enterprise Group CEO Ralph LaRossa, adding, “In the short term, we’re going to be getting the wires ready all throughout the state for the solar and the batteries that are so needed.”
A PSEG subsidiary operates the state’s only nuclear power plants. Those plants are the lone case where one of New Jersey’s regulated utilities generates power rather than ensuring power generated by other firms reaches utility customers.
It’s not clear how much energy a new nuclear power plant would bring to New Jersey, nor is it clear when such a plant would become operational.
South Jersey business groups welcomed Sherrill’s bill signing, hailing it as a boost to local employers and a boon much needed by the area’s economy.
“The PSEG Nuclear facilities in Salem County have long served as the economic backbone of South Jersey, generating thousands of good-paying, stable jobs and providing critical tax revenues that support our local communities,” said Christina Renna, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey. “In a county that has been historically underserved, these plants represent exactly the kind of anchor investment that sustains families and businesses across South Jersey.”
Source: New Jersey Monitor