A group representing the nation’s state energy regulators is urging President-elect Trump ahead of Friday’s inauguration to move as soon as possible to restart the process to build the nation’s nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners was a major litigant in fighting the Obama administration’s attempt to scuttle the nuclear waste site after years of states funneling money into a trust fund to build it.
The group also extended an invitation to cooperate with the Trump administration on making states a bigger part of federal policy making.
“NARUC members possess a depth of knowledge and practical experience in energy and utility matters that affect every American citizen,” said the group’s president, Robert Powelson, in sending the letter to Trump and his transition team. “We know how to work collaboratively and effectively, and that is our goal with the new administration.”
Powelson also extended an invitation for the Trump administration to participate in its upcoming winter meetings in Washington next month. The meeting is used to bring Washington policymakers together with state energy regulators and the industry to share ideas on energy and infrastructure policy.
The group also sent Trump a letter on telecommunications policy that calls on the administration for an “improved relationship between states and the federal government” on developing the nation’s communications backbone.
It wants to see a more “decentralize[d]” federal telecommunications policy put into effect “by returning more power to states on important issues such as state broadband, universal service and consumer protection programs.” It also wants Trump to reform the Federal Communications Commission.
