Stop the Nuclear Tax Bailout -- End the “Nuclear Renaissance”
The nuclear industry is trying to ram through another multi-billion-dollar bailout to keep the fantasy/nightmare of nuclear power alive. This time, through Congress. Stopping this bill (HR 1551) could end the so-called “Nuclear Renaissance” once and for all.
Utilities in Georgia and South Carolina are building four new reactors that are all billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The problems were predicted before the utilities broke ground, but the extent of their failure is truly remarkable. The reactors are less than half-way built and have already bankrupted Westinghouse, the largest builder of reactors in the world – proving that nuclear power is a failed technology with no future.
HR 1551 would try to ensure these reactors get built by guaranteeing them $5.2 billion in federal tax breaks that are scheduled to expire in 2020. Because of the massive construction delays in building the reactors, none of them are expected to be online before then.
Please contact your Senators today and tell them to vote "NO" on HR 1551.
SIGN NOW
MORE BACKGROUND
Some or all of the four new reactors being built in the U.S. could be cancelled soon, despite billions of dollars in state and federal subsidies. The two reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia have already received $8.3 billion in taxpayer-guaranteed loans, and ratepayers in both states are paying steep rate hikes to cover the financing costs of the projects.
But one of the subsidies – the Nuclear Production Tax Credit – could expire before costing taxpayers a dime. Utilities can only take the tax credit for electricity the reactors actually generate, and it appears none of them will be completed before the program expires by law in 2020. If that happens, it willg taxpayers over $5 billion.
Georgia Power, SCANA, and Westinghouse are begging Congress to rush through a bill (HR 1551) that would NOT ONLY eliminate the 2020 expiration date, but give $2.6 billion in federal tax credits to tax-exempt state utilities and cooperatives that are 50% co-owners of the new reactors.
The bill would allow the non-profit utilities to transfer the credits to the for-profit utilities and Westinghouse.
The House of Representatives passed HR 1551 through last week, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell is pushing for a Senate vote this week, before the American public can find out about it. And President Trump has already said he will sign the bill.
The whole scheme amounts to a $5 billion bailout to four dirty, dangerous reactors – using a new and still-unproven design – that have already had major construction and manufacturing problems.
Georgia Power, SCANA, and Westinghouse are begging Congress to rush through a bill (HR 1551) that would NOT ONLY eliminate the 2020 expiration date, but give $2.6 billion in federal tax credits to tax-exempt state utilities and cooperatives that are 50% co-owners of the new reactors.
The bill would allow the non-profit utilities to transfer the credits to the for-profit utilities and Westinghouse.
The House of Representatives passed HR 1551 through last week, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell is pushing for a Senate vote this week, before the American public can find out about it. And President Trump has already said he will sign the bill.
The whole scheme amounts to a $5 billion bailout to four dirty, dangerous reactors – using a new and still-unproven design – that have already had major construction and manufacturing problems.
For more information:
SIGN NOW :: Stop the Nuclear Tax Bailout -- End the “Nuclear Renaissance” | NIRS
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