Consumer choice shapes the energy supply market of Pennsylvania — driving down costs and providing below-national-average electricity prices — but profitable nuclear corporations are asking lawmakers to give them nearly a half-billion dollars of taxpayer money annually.
They want you to believe they’re not asking for a bailout, but the proposed House Bill 11 for nuclear power plants outlines how they seek to bolster corporate bottom lines, and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy calculated the cost: $500 million a year indefinitely.
Today’s affordable energy means opportunity here in Lehigh Valley. My employer, power provider Calpine Corp., has invested about $2 billion in the Pennsylvania economy, including its power generation facilities: Bethlehem Energy Center and York Energy Center. These advanced, highly efficient power plants burn clean natural gas. They can start up quickly to provide approximately 2,500 megawatts — enough to supply nearly 2.5 million homes.
Access to abundant natural gas resources and this innovative mindset are what’s spurring private investment in Pennsylvania in the form of new power generation projects and creating thousands of jobs. Giving taxpayer money to nuclear companies will eliminate competition and decimate manufacturing revitalization in Pennsylvania.
Bill Ferguson
Media
The writer is vice president, Regional Operations, Calpine Bethlehem Energy Center.
