TRENTON — A bill that would establish a state procurement program for advanced nuclear energy facilities cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously Tuesday, despite opposition from consumer advocates, environmental organizations, and senior groups that warned the measure could saddle ratepayers with billions of dollars in costs over the next four decades.
The committee voted unanimously to release A4881, known as the “Powering Opportunity, Workforce, and Energy Reliability for New Jersey Act,” or “Power NJ Act.” The legislation directs the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, in collaboration with the Economic Development Authority, to establish a program to procure advanced nuclear energy facilities in the state. Under the bill, the Board of Public Utilities would solicit proposals, review projects, negotiate terms, and establish a reliability capacity certificate program intended to provide revenue for approved projects.
Before the hearing, opponents gathered outside the committee room for a press conference, urging lawmakers to reject the measure.
“This is the bill that will absolutely raise rates for utility consumers,” Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, said during the press conference.
Jaborska argued that the legislation contains no cap on costs that could ultimately be passed on to consumers and questioned why residential ratepayers should be responsible for financing new generation capacity.
“We can ask the data centers, especially now, to pay for new energy generation, since they’re the ones responsible for the capacity spike that we’re experiencing,” she said.
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