By Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com
—
The U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development voted Thursday to approve $25 billion in federal loan guarantees to expand the use of clean nuclear power across the country.
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, called the loan guarantees critical to the planned expansion of Comanche Peak in Somervell County.
“This is great news for our district and country because it will help create thousands of jobs and provide our country with affordable, safe and clean energy while making money for taxpayers,” Edwards said.
A June 24 Energy and Water Appropriations bill hearing was canceled after Edwards objected to the elimination of funding in the bill for the Energy Department’s nuclear loan guarantee program. The original draft omitted the $36 billion loan guarantee authority requested by the administration. In addition to the $25 billion for nuclear loan guarantees included in the 2011 Energy and Water bill, about $9 billion for nuclear loan guarantees has also been included in the 2010 Supplemental Appropriations bill, which passed the House and now awaits Senate action.
“We are at the dawn of nuclear power renaissance in the United States, which will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and the clean energy our nation needs,” Edwards said. “To eliminate or dramatically cut the funding for nuclear loans would be devastating for the jobs and economic growth our country desperately needs. A clear bipartisan majority of House members favor the expansion of nuclear power in America, and I will do everything I can to work in partnership with them to support this effort going forward,”
Luminant, which manages Comanche Peak, estimates that 5,000 jobs will be created during the five-year construction period, and more than 500 full-time jobs at Comanche Peak once construction completes.
Luminant officials also estimate the expansion will provide power for 1.7 million Texas homes in addition to the 1.2 million the plant presently serves.
“This action by the subcommittee recognizes that loan guarantees provide a cost-efficient catalyst to expand our clean energy portfolio, including new nuclear power plants that will allow us to meet our electricity needs in the coming decades,” said Alex Flint, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s senior vice president of governmental affairs. “The loan guarantee volume will allow new nuclear plant projects to move ahead and companies building those facilities to access financing at market-competitive interest rates that lower the overall cost of these projects and ultimately, a lower electricity cost to consumers.”
The loan guarantees for new plants are fully financed by the nuclear industry at no cost to the taxpayer, both Edwards and Flint said. Companies applying to receive a Department of Energy loan for developing nuclear power projects must pay a fee, called the credit subsidy cost, that covers the federal government’s risk in providing the guarantee.
“These new plants, combined with the funding for wind, solar and other renewable projects, will provide the nation with diversified electricity generation technologies to help America meet challenging greenhouse gas emission reduction goals,” Flint said. “Increased loan guarantee volume is a vital signal for expansion of nuclear energy.
“New nuclear projects will provide a tremendous shot in the arm to the economy through thousands of jobs that will be created in building new nuclear plants and other energy facilities.”
Luminant has applied to the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build two new 1,700-watt reactors for Comanche Peak. The plant presently employs about 1,100 workers.
The expansion will cost about $15 billion, Luminant officials said. They hope to begin construction in 2013, provided the loan guarantees are approved.
The U.S. Department of Energy last year named Comanche Peak the first alternate after selecting four other nuclear projects for loan guarantee consideration. Earlier this year the Energy Department awarded its first nuclear loan guarantee to the Southern Company to construct two new reactors at a plant in Georgia.
The new funding approved by the subcommittee Thursday should be sufficient to ensure loan guarantees for Comanche Peak, Luminant CEO David Campbell said.
“In order to meet our growing electricity demands while transitioning to a low emissions energy future and energy independence, nuclear power must play a vital role in our nation’s infrastructure,” Campbell said. “The additional loan guarantee funding secured today by Congressman Edwards in the U.S. House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee will help stimulate the nuclear renaissance that the state of Texas and our country will need moving forward.
“It is difficult to imagine any scenario where our Comanche Peak nuclear facility in Glen Rose could be expanded without federal loan guarantees like those procured today in the subcommittee.”
