Policy and Legal

The State of New York plans to construct the first major U.S. power plant in more than 15 years (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).

What’s going on: “Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an interview that she has directed the state’s public electric utility to add at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear-power generation to its aging fleet of reactors. A gigawatt is roughly enough to power about a million homes.”

• The New York Power Authority—created in 1931 by then-governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to manage hydropower for New York—will locate a site upstate and then determine a reactor design.
• Potential sites “include the grounds of New York’s three operating plants, all owned or majority-owned by Constellation Energy” and could consist of a single large reactor or several smaller reactors, according to Hochul.
• NYPA “may pursue the project alone or in partnership with private entities,” according to Hochul.

Why it’s important: The endeavor could spur a new age of reactor construction in the U.S. The industry has been stymied in recent decades in part by “permitting processes that move at a glacial pace.”

• Since 1991, just five new commercial reactors have come online in the U.S.—not nearly enough to offset the retirement of old plants.
• Nuclear generation capacity has declined more than 4% from its peak in 2012, as other electricity generation methods, such as solar, have experienced booms.

Closed—with no Plan B: In 2021, New York shuttered its Indian Point nuclear plant, about 40 miles outside Manhattan. The plant had supplied about a quarter of New York City’s electricity needs.

• “There was no Plan B,” Hochul told the Journal.

Nuclear resurgence: Since then, nuclear energy’s popularity has surged, due in part to the large amount of energy required to build artificial intelligence data centers.

• Late last year, Microsoft announced plans to restart the shuttered reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, and in March, the Energy Department approved $57 million in loans to get Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Plant up and running again.

The NAM’s view: “New York’s plan to expand the role of nuclear in the state’s energy footprint is an important one,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin.

• “Nuclear energy is safe, emissions-free and available 24 hours a day. As such, it’s a critical component of America’s energy dominance strategy. It’s also vital for meeting additional energy needs that have arisen with the growth in data centers and the use of AI. President Trump recognizes this, and manufacturers commend him for the four executive orders he signed last month designed to boost the nuclear energy industry in the U.S.”