Support for nuclear energy has been the one thing that has remained bipartisan in this raucous election cycle, the new incoming president of the nuclear industry’s lead trade group said in Washington.
“We have a presidential election coming up. And much of that debate has been incredibly polarized,” said Maria Korsnick, chief operating officer for the Nuclear Energy Institute. “But when it comes to nuclear energy, there’s really bipartisan support in Congress and with both presidential candidates.”
Korsnick spoke to reporters to introduce herself before she takes the helm of the nuclear trade group on Jan. 1. She has several decades of experience as a nuclear engineer and will be leading the charge to get the next administration and Congress up to speed on the challenges facing the industry and the policy fixes that are required.
She explained that there are very few industries that can claim the type of support that nuclear power has garnered from both parties. “And we are going to need that support because as an industry and as a nation we are facing some pretty big challenges,” she said. She said the industry will release new polling data next week that shows support for nuclear rising among voters of all stripes.
Korsnick said the nation’s 100 nuclear reactors are facing pressure to close down due to federally-overseen electricity markets that do not adequately value the power plants’ attributes. In addition, state policies that regulate the retail side of the electricity market have put increasing pressure on nuclear power in favor of other resources such as natural gas and wind.
“Fundamentally, when you look at the markets, there’s things that nuclear brings to the market that simply aren’t valued,” Korsnick said. “So the fact that nuclear is very kind to the environment, we might love that [but] it’s not something that the market recognizes sufficiently.”
On the climate change front, nuclear power is a zero-emission source of baseload electricity, which means nuclear power plants can produce energy 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Renewable energy, which environmentalists favor over nuclear, cannot produce baseload power, and will require nuclear and other forms of energy to back them up in order for them to function reliably.
Federal projections show global demand for electricity climbing 70 percent by 2040, she said, and the U.S. must lead in providing the technologies necessary to meet that demand.
Much of her advocacy next year in Washington will be directed toward getting this point across no matter who wins the election in November.
A major priority with the next administration and Congress early on will be to fill the open seats at the two federal regulatory agencies that will be crucial to the industry’s success. Those agencies include the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Both commissions are run by a chairman and four commissioners from both parties. FERC will shortly be missing both of its Republican commissioners, and many of the nuclear commission’s terms are slated to expire beginning next summer.
Korsnick said special attention is being given to FERC because of new rules it is developing that would help price nuclear power plants more effectively in the wholesale electricity markets the commission oversees.
But the work at the commission could take some time to implement. In the meantime, Korsnick will urge Congress and the new administration to consider putting in place a policy to help bridge the gap until FERC has a working regulatory program.
That “bridging” policy would mean seeking new tax incentives for nuclear power, she said. She wants parity with renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, which received a landmark five-year extension of both investment and production tax credits in last December’s spending deal.
Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill is also planning to push for another clean energy extension bill during the lame duck session of Congress, senior White House adviser Brian Deese said this week.
Korsnick didn’t reference the lame duck session in talking to reporters, but it would be a logical fit for lobbying if the nuclear group is serious about new subsidies.
Conservative free-market groups such as the American Action Forum and others were successful in getting the GOP to block a second round of energy subsidies this year. Any call for new subsidies would likely be subject to similar pushback.
A lot of what can be done will depend on who gets elected to the Oval Office. Korsnick said the group will wait until the “dust settles” after Nov. 8 before moving ahead on its priorities for the next year.
