Central New York is a ‘strong candidate’ to host Hochul’s planned nuclear plant

If Gov. Kathy Hochul is in a hurry to build the state’s first nuclear power plant in 50 years, Central New York is likely to be a leading contender to host it.

State officials announced today that the New York Power Authority will develop 1,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity as soon as possible, and they will begin searching for locations within weeks. The project could involve a single large reactor or several smaller ones.

Central New York – specifically the Nine Mile Point nuclear site in Oswego County – is perhaps the most obvious choice to host a new plant.

For one thing, just 15 years ago a nuclear consortium was pursuing a license to build a fourth nuclear reactor at the 900-acre Nine Mile Point site in the town of Scriba. That plan was abandoned in 2013 for financial reasons, but the site remains available.

The site has a Great Lake for water supply, plenty of room for spent fuel storage, and nearby access to big transmission lines. Public officials in Oswego County have consistently welcomed the jobs and taxes that nuclear plants provide.

And don’t forget the growing customer base in Central New York.

Nine Mile Point is just 30 miles from the planned Micron Technology semiconductor facility in Clay, which is a big part of what’s driving planners to seek out new sources of reliable generation. Just the first two chip fabs, out of four planned by Micron, will need a steady supply of more than 1,000 megawatts.

At full build-out, with four fabs, Micron expects to consume more power than Vermont and New Hampshire combined.

All those factors make Nine Mile Point an attractive potential site, Justin Driscoll, president and CEO of the New York Power Authority, told syracuse.com.

“Certainly, in our view, that area would be a strong candidate” for a new reactor, Driscoll said.

But nothing has been decided, Driscoll said. Other sites could prove more expedient if they are closer to large customers that the plant or plants will serve.

The power authority will take a wide-open look at potential sites, different nuclear technologies, potential large customers who could use the power and other factors before settling on a plan, Driscoll said. Also up in the air is who will operate the facilities.

Sometime in the next two months, state officials will issue a solicitation to identify communities that are interested in hosting a new nuclear plant. Sean Ewart, Hochul’s assistant secretary for energy, said community response will be a significant factor in picking a site.

“It’s going to be just vital that we find … a community that really sort of raises its hand,” Ewart said. “We want to work with communities that are going to be excited about this.”

John Howard, a former member of the Public Service Commission and former NYPA employee, said building at the Oswego County site is the obvious choice if time is of the essence.

“Clearly there’s only one place, in the time frame, that will work,’’ Howard said.

It’s possible that NYPA could decide to build one large nuclear plant similar in size to the 1,300-megawatt Nine Mile Point 2, officials said. But they also will consider building several small modular reactors of the sort under development in Ontario, Canada, which produce 300 MW.

Other plant types, such as two advanced nuclear designs proposed in Wyoming and Texas, which are still awaiting NRC approval, could also be considered, Driscoll said.

The power authority is sustained by revenues from its power plants and transmission lines and does not depend on state tax revenues. Typically, the authority finances new construction by selling bonds to private investors.

NYPA likely will seek private investors to help finance a nuclear facility, Driscoll said. The authority also will seek to sign large customers to long-term power purchase agreements, which could provide a steady revenue source that helps with financing. Federal incentives also will be a likely source of funding, he said.

“We’re going to be working closely with federal government officials to hopefully take advantage of, and maximize the availability of, any federal support for the development of the project,” Driscoll said.

The nuclear construction industry has been largely dormant for the past three decades. Energy experts say that could be a challenge for “first movers” like New York that want to revive the industry, because the lack of experience can lead to cost overruns and delays.

The last two nuclear plants built in the United States, Plant Vogtle units 3 and 4 in Georgia, cost roughly $35 billion combined, more than twice the initial budget of $14 billion. The units came online in 2023 and 2024, 15 years after construction started and seven years later than planned.

The Vogtle reactors were the first U.S. nuclear facilities to start construction in more than 30 years.

Asked whether New York utility customers would be protected against that kind of cost overrun, Ewart said state officials would learn from the mistakes made at Vogtle and would put a priority on keeping costs down.

“We’re going to be able to learn a lot of lessons from Vogtle,” Ewart told syracuse.com. “We’re also going to have a unique arrangement here where NYPA is going to be working very closely with the Department of Public Service to ensure that ratepayer protection is just built into the DNA of this project from the outset.”

The cost of nuclear power is likely to be a focal point for critics of the governor’s initiative. Opponents also have focused on the unresolved problem of what to do with spent nuclear fuel, which for now is entombed in concrete at each plant awaiting a permanent solution.

Dozens of environmental groups sent a public letter to Hochul last September urging her to reject nuclear power as a solution to the state’s energy challenges.

Micron officials welcomed today’s announcement.

“A critical factor in the success of the semiconductor ecosystem is access to affordable, reliable energy. We commend New York State for advancing an all-of-the-above energy strategy—including nuclear power—which is essential to supporting high-tech manufacturing,’’ Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron’s CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Hochul has been pushing for more nuclear energy for months. In January, she announced that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority had partnered with Constellation Energy to seek early site approval for one or more small modular reactors at Nine Mile Point. Constellation owns and operates the three reactors at Nine Mile Point plus a fourth in Wayne County.

It’s not clear whether Constellation might play a role in NYPA’s plans.

The power authority hasn’t operated a nuclear plant in more than two decades, and it had a less than stellar record when it did. Like many small operators with just one or two plants, NYPA could not achieve the efficiency of large nuclear companies like Constellation.

Constellation’s FitzPatrick plant in Scriba, for example, has been online and producing power at least 85% of the time every year since it was sold to a private operator in 2000, according to data from the World Nuclear Association. (Constellation acquired the plant in 2017 from Entergy Corp.) But during the 25 years from 1975 to 1999, under management by NYPA, the facility posted an energy availability factor below 85% in all but three years.

“The new operators were much better than the power authority,’’ said Howard, the former PSC commissioner.

Driscoll said it’s too early to say whether NYPA might partner with Constellation. At this point, the power authority is soliciting input on all sorts of potential scenarios.

“Obviously, we have a tremendous amount of respect for our friends at Constellation But I think what this looks like in the end state, when this plant becomes operational, is still going to be figured out along the way,” Driscoll said.

Hochul told NYPA to develop at least 1,000 megawatts of nuclear power. That would increase total nuclear capacity in New York by 30%, to 4,300 megawatts.

Nuclear development is notoriously slow. Just getting a plant approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission can take years. But New York officials may feel the need to hurry.

Demand for electricity is expected to grow 50% to 90% over the next 20 years, at a time when generating capacity is dropping off. In the past five years, 4,315 megawatts of generation has retired while only 2,274 MW has come online. Grid operators at the New York Independent System Operator are raising increasing alarms about the potential for decreased reliability on the system.

Nuclear plants typically run at full capacity around the clock unless they have to be taken offline for maintenance or refueling. And they produce power without carbon emissions, a critical consideration for a state that aims to have a zero-emission electric grid by 2040.

State officials hope to add as much wind and solar power as they can by then, but it seems increasingly clear that other sources will be needed as well.

“We understand that we really need to get a move on building clean baseload today if we’re going to have a system that is able to support more renewables by 2040,” Driscoll said. “So that, really, is why the governor is doing this.”

Staff writer Tim Knauss can be reached at: email|Twitter| 315-470-3023.