Democratic senators introduce legislation extending production tax credit for zero-emissions nuclear plants
U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced legislation last week that would make existing merchant nuclear power owners/operators eligible for the same tax credit proposed for wind operators.
The Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act of 2021 would make the nuclear plant eligible for the $15 per megawatt tax credit for zero-emission power productions. Nuclear reactors provide a fifth of the country’s electricity and over half of all the emission-free energy across the nation.
“America’s nuclear power plants generate more than half of the country’s carbon-free power and form a crucial component in our fight against the climate crisis,” said Carper, chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). “But in recent years, too many of these plants have prematurely shut down due to market forces, and additional closures pose a growing threat to our efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. The Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act of 2021 would help solve this problem by providing much-needed tax credits and financial certainty to our existing nuclear fleet…”
Currently, production tax credits for eligible nuclear power facilities only covers nuclear plant for the first eight years of operation. There is no tax credit for older nuclear power plants. The proposed credit would phase out if market revenues reach 2.5 cents for kilowatt-hour if Greenhouse Gas Emission drop 50 percent compared to 2020 levels, or after 10 years.
“America needs to reduce our reliance of fossil fuels, so it is imperative that we keep these reactors operating safely while we continue to work on demand reduction, renewables, energy storage, and transmission grid resiliency,” said Senator Cardin, a senior member of Senate Finance Committee and member of the EPW Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee. “Reducing air pollution and dangerous greenhouse gas pollution is good for the environment, public health, and our economic and our national security.”
Several labor groups and other organizations support the legislation, including the American Nuclear Society, the Bipartisan Policy Center Action, GE Hitachi, Mothers for Nuclear, North America’s Building Trade Unions, Sensible Energy Matters to America, and the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, among others.
