Headwinds At Hope Creek and Salem

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Is Showdown in Offing over Nuclear Subsidies in New Jersey?

Tom Johnson | November 30, 2017

Foes worry that those in favor of scheme will try to push a bill through in lame-duck session

In what is likely to be the opening salvo of a nasty legislative battle, lawmakers will convene early next week to discuss how to prevent the state’s nuclear plants from shutting down prematurely.

The bigger and unanswered question is whether they also are planning to act on a yet-to-be-introduced bill that some say could provide up to billions of dollars in ratepayer subsidies to the Public Service Enterprise Group over the next decade.

The Senate Environment and Energy Committee and Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee plan to hold a rare joint session Monday on economic challenges facing nuclear power plants, an issue that is splintering the energy sector not only here but in Washington D.C. and elsewhere.

News of the joint hearing yesterday jolted a coalition opposed to efforts to prop up nuclear units. They fear the proceedings may foreshadow a legislative initiative to award lucrative financial incentives to PSEG and Exelon, (a co-owner of two of the plants) during the lame-duck session, which ends early in January.

“We’ve seen this special-interest strategy before on bad bills,’’ said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, an opponent of subsidies to nuclear plants. “It’s how a bad bill gets passed in a lame-duck session.’’

Addressing subsidies

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer), the chairman of the Assembly committee, however, discounted that scenario, at least for now. “At this point in time, I don’t have a bill,’’ he said, although conceding the issue of subsidies would likely be addressed during the hearing.

Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), the chairman of the Senate panel, did not return a call seeking comment. In the past he has been guarded about the subject, saying only the issue is being studied.

A quick fix is still possible, if the political will is there. After today’s session, the Legislature only has seven scheduled days in the current term. Foes, however, say the issue is too important to be tackled in a lame-duck session, although it would not be the first time for it to happen.

“I haven’t seen a bill of this magnitude go through this quickly in this kind of time period,’’ said James Benton, the longtime executive director of the New Jersey Petroleum Council. “There’s a lot of information that we don’t have at this point.’’…