A major announcement for New York State, the U.K. Guardian reports,
Kathy Hochul has announced plans to build a nuclear-power plant in New York, the first major new US plant in over 15 years, and one designed to add at least 1GW of nuclear power generation.
The governor said in a statement that she had directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant in upstate New York to support a reliable and affordable electric grid.
The key here is that New York’s Democratic governor, Hochul, supports the project and she controls a major public utility in her state. One gigawatt is equivalent to 1,000 megawatts, so a similar size to Minnesota’s Prairie Island nuclear power station.
Minnesota has in place a long-time ban on new nuclear power plants. There is likely a majority of legislators in the evenly-divided legislature in support of the ban’s repeal, but the state’s Democratic leadership opposes. Therefore, the measure never came to a vote in the recently-ended 2025 session.
The Guardian continues,
Hochul said that the nuclear plant would add zero-emission baseload power and help to advance New York’s goal to achieve a clean energy economy.
Renewable energy groups slammed the decision.
New nuclear power capacity obviously means less market share available for wind, solar, and whatever fashionable sources are currently in favor with the environmentalist community.
An apparent surge in nuclear power comes at a tough time for, especially, solar power. Recent bankruptcies and efforts by Pres. Trump to end federal subsidies are taking a toll.
Meanwhile, Minnesota sits on the sidelines of the next big energy revolution.