Corporate greed should not dictate legislation

HARRISBURG, Pa. (April 3) – Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts has issued the following statement in response to discussions of an impending proposal in the Senate to bail out profitable nuclear corporations in Pennsylvania.

It is our understanding that proponents of a nuclear bailout in the Senate are preparing to soon release a plan that mirrors House Bill 11 — with a confirmed price tag of half a billion dollars a year indefinitely — that would benefit wealthy corporations while burdening consumers.

We don’t need to see the forthcoming bill to know that any proposed legislation would rob ratepayers, including Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens, to support corporate greed.

Why would any lawmaker in either branch of the state Legislature think it is a good idea to steal from ratepayers to pay for a problem that doesn’t exist? We know the state’s nuclear power generators are profitable — PJM Interconnection’s Independent Market Monitor reported that the industry will collectively reap more than $1 billion in profits for 2018 and 2019.

If a nuclear bailout is enacted, we now know how much it is going to start costing energy users. And the numbers aren’t encouraging.

The Industrial Energy Consumers of Pennsylvania applied the Tier 3 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard rates proposed in House Bill 11 – language that now appears to be mirrored in the Senate – to energy use for its members and revealed crippling costs to manufacturers in the state. For example, a large manufacturer could be faced with a nearly $2 million annual increase in electric costs. For many unable to absorb these costs, consumer-good price increases or job losses could be the only answer.

This is just one example of how energy consumers across the state continue to be fleeced as the state forces them to shoulder the burden of corporate greed that should have no place in our government.

-Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts

Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts is a diverse coalition of Pennsylvania citizens’ groups, power generators, and energy, business and manufacturing associations.