{"id":502570,"date":"2026-01-09T00:53:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T00:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502570\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T00:53:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T00:53:25","slug":"should-new-york-pursue-more-nuclear-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502570\/","title":{"rendered":"Should New York pursue more nuclear power?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June, Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant<\/a> in upstate New York.<\/p>\n

The idea is that the state needs more power to meet growing demands on the electric grid from data centers and massive economic development projects like Micron.<\/p>\n

At the same time, off-shore wind, another source of carbon-free power, is being halted by the Trump administration, which believes it\u2019s a national security risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporters of nuclear energy argue it provides reliable, zero-emission electricity. Opponents say it\u2019s too costly on multiple levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Capital Tonight spoke with two experts with opposing views on the issue.<\/p>\n

Joseph Romm is former acting assistant U.S. secretary of energy, and a senior research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His latest research is titled, \u201cNew York\u2019s Nuclear Anti-Affordability Fiasco: Why the State\u2019s Deeply Flawed Energy Plan Would Explode Electricity Rates.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Romm argues that because nuclear reactors can take 10 years or more to build, it\u2019s the only form of energy for which rates can rise before a plant is even operational.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He claims that New York\u2019s plans for new reactors will be a huge burden on ratepayers,<\/a> comparable to what residents of Georgia experienced during the construction of the twin Vogtle reactors.<\/p>\n

The Vogtle reactors are some of the most expensive in the world; they are a good comparison for New York since they are the only two reactors that have been built in this century.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

New York has a checkered history with nuclear power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the state currently relies on several older nuclear power plants to provide 20% of its energy, the Shoreham plant on Long Island was an infamous boondoggle, increasing rates for consumers yet never providing power before permanently shutting down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Gov. Hochul\u2019s argument that the state needs more energy is supported by the New York Independent System Operator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NYISO released a report in 2025<\/a> stating the state\u2019s electric system may need several thousand megawatts (MW) of new dispatchable generation by 2034.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked how the state should react to that need, Romm responded that the state should put a moratorium on the building of new data centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data is clear. Data centers have led to a massive increase in electricity costs, particularly wholesale energy prices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Romm pointed to the city of Buffalo where he claims wholesale electricity prices have tripled since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For another perspective, Capital Tonight spoke with Isuru Seneviratne, an energy finance expert who sits on the executive board of Nuclear NY, \u201ca non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization working towards a prosperous decarbonized future and nature conservation.”<\/p>\n

Seneviratne said voters have consistently said they value three energy attributes, in this order: reliability, affordability and sustainability. Nuclear, he argues, is the most scalable of all energy sources.<\/p>\n

When asked about its high costs, he said that \u201cany investment should be measured against what you get from it, not just the sticker price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since nuclear provides on-demand energy with minimal price volatility \u2014 unlike gas \u2014 it\u2019s a good option.<\/p>\n

He also cited a poll<\/a> which shows that 1.7 Georgians (where the Vogtle plants are located) support nuclear power for each person who opposes it.<\/p>\n

Another argument for nuclear, according to Seneviratne, is the longer lifetime of the energy asset. The lifetime of a wind power facility is 25 years; while the lifetime of a nuclear plant is 80 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you pay off your capital in the next 20 to 30 years, then your actual cost (after) that is something like $30 – $35 dollars,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s an investment that Georgia has made in its future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romm said that for some nuclear plants, the capital investment wouldn\u2019t be paid off for closer to 50 years.<\/p>\n

When asked about Romm\u2019s recommendation that New York place a moratorium on the building of data centers, Seneviratne agreed that data centers are the key drivers of the demand in electricity, but said it\u2019s not the only driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a huge re-industrialization going on and the essential thing that they need is on-demand energy,\u201d he said. \u201cIf New York wants to stay competitive in an industrialized world, it needs to provide energy to industrial consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In June, Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to develop and construct a zero-emission…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":502571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[40737,5229,29875,13565,17547,29874,29873,746,405,403,17050,50,5226,5225,5228,17545,5227,80,29872,52,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5284],"class_list":{"0":"post-502570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-albany-capital-region","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-app-capital-tonight","11":"tag-app-local-state-politics","12":"tag-app-ny-state-of-politics","13":"tag-capital-tonight","14":"tag-capital-tonight-interviews","15":"tag-environment","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-new-york-city","18":"tag-new-york-state","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-newyork","21":"tag-newyorkcity","22":"tag-ny","23":"tag-ny-state-of-politics","24":"tag-nyc","25":"tag-politics","26":"tag-susan-arbetter","27":"tag-top-stories","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-united-states-of-america","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-usa","34":"tag-vod"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115862412110224081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}