Posted on 06/17/2009 10:05:25 AM PDT by Ben Mugged
The Energy Department is planning to award $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for the construction of new nuclear power plants to four utilities, government sources said today. The companies include UniStar Nuclear Energy, NRG Energy Inc., Scana Corp. and Southern Co.
Nuclear power advocates hope that the loan guarantees will help launch a new wave of nuclear power plants that use a new generation of technology; moreover, they note, nuclear plants do not emit greenhouse gases. But foes of nuclear power argue that the plants remain too expensive to build without federal assistance and that energy efficiency and renewable energy resources offer better alternatives. New plants could cost anywhere from $6 billion to $12 billion, industry executives say.
All four companies plan to add units at existing nuclear facilities, which should make regulatory approval and siting approval easier. Two of the firms are "merchant power" companies that sell electricity at unregulated prices; two are utilities that will be subject to regulation and will seek to recover costs from local ratepayers.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I’m baffled as to why something that seems to make sense is coming out of our current government. Can someone explain how this will actually end up hurting our country? Otherwise it just defies logic.
Where are they building them, Iran or North Korea? Because if you think they will get built here you are mistaken, so this is money down the drain.
Don't credit the current administration for this.....
This is another Scrappleface - right??
I can hardly believe this govt. is in any way promoting nuclear power.
Maybe pigs will yet fly...
The administration will use this to say that they’re trying to improve infrastructure and energy independence. In a few weeks, they will do everything in their power to impede the building of new facilities by creating a Nuclear Tzar. This appointment will create so much beaurocratic red tape that any potential new building will be so expensive that companies will balk at building any new plants.
The list, ping
It’s an oversight. The loan guarantees will never be made, no new plants will be allowed under obama.
Obama did repeatedly say he favored nuclear power on the campaign trail.
Case of even a stopped clock being right twice a day.
This would seem to contradict other policy shifts he has made:
Obama sounds death knell for nuclear power:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/obama_sounds_death_knell_for_n.html
Who....?
wow.
Why can’t the nuclear plant owners pay for them? Are all nuclear power plants owned by the government??? Serious question.
Thank you for clarifying that for me. I was worried (relieved?) that I woke up in an alternate universe where our elected representatives actually made decisions based on what was best for our country!
Maybe the terrorists need a closer supply of nuke material?
The plant owners would generally be the shareholders of the utility company. That might include your pension plan.
According to the article, the government is not making the loans. The government is guaranteeing the loans. Sort of like a co-signer.
This should allow the utility companies to pay a lower interest rate on the loans, which will actually save the rate-payers (the consumers) money in the long run.
That's the executive summary version of how that might work.
I want a nuclear power plant. I promise not to weaponize anything.
“Hey 0bama, hook me up, will ya?”
FReepers will get a 20% discount on their electric bill with 5% of the payments going directly to JimRob and FreeRepublic. But don’t tell the federal regulators, okay?
Don't be baffled. The $18.5B in loan guarantees are from the Bush administration.
When the "stimulus" bill was being discussed, it originally boosted the loan guarantee program up $50B (http://www.ans.org/pi/news/d-1234541903). However, the democrats quickly cut that out of the bill...thus the one of the things that would have actually stimulated growth was taken out of the "stimulus" bill.
Foes of the needs of other people have always used delay and suits to achieve their self-created argument that plants are "too expensive."
The jig is up, and the irrational inactivity of the last 30 years proves beyond any rational doubt that lack of energy independence is a major ingredient in our current national crisis.
The president has the power to declare a national emergency and make the luddite greenie idiots irrelevant.
I wish he would do just that.
See post #18.
Nuclear plants take years to design and to go through the bureaucratic process. Billions$ are involved, interest accrues and unnecessary delay makes them "too expensive" to build," the strongest weapon in the arsenal of the obstructive mindless opponents of everything nuclear.
The opponents have nothing to lose, and they feel big and empowered in being able to keep an entire country frustrated and hostage to foreign powers, their other weapon. Are many aware that OPEC is a major funder of anti-nuclear groups?
These are not bailouts
These are not payouts
These are not subsidies
They're not even loans
They are loan guarantees. The government is telling the banks that these four utilities are good loans. These four utilities are large and are performing well. These are low risk loans to begin with. But now the banks that will make the loans have an added level of comfort because the government is cosigning the loan...it makes it easier for the utilities to get loans for new plants and the banks have a no-brainer investment at a time when all other investments are very risky.
The $18.5 billion is going to sit inside the Treasury department and will probably never leave the Treasury department.
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