An Assembly committee heard testimony Wednesday on a proposal to end the state’s 32-year-old restriction on nuclear power plants, as proponents of the bill argue it is necessary to diversify the state’s energy options.
The bill, authored by state Rep. Kevin Petersen, R-Waupaca, and state Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, would reverse a 1983 requirement that new power plants be economically beneficial to taxpayers and eliminate tough restrictions that dictate how high-level nuclear waste is stored.
Wisconsin currently has one nuclear power plant in Manitowoc County. A facility in Carlton, Wisc., closed in 2013 after its operator, Dominion Resources Inc., said the site was not economically viable.
Petersen said the moratorium is outdated and reversing it would help give the state more options to ensure its energy security.
“The technology has changed over the past 30 years … where nuclear power is today versus where it was when legislators passed the moratorium,” Petersen said in his testimony. “Advanced nuclear energy is a clean, safe and affordable way to meet energy needs in Wisconsin.”
Petersen also noted that reopening the state to nuclear energy would help drive down energy rates for Wisconsinites.
But environmental activists expressed concerns about changing the ban, arguing the state should stick to safer forms of alternative energy, such as wind or solar.
“Solar and wind and other forms of clean energy are significantly cleaner than [nuclear and coal], and they don’t lead to carbon emissions or radioactive waste,” Elizabeth Ward, conservation programs coordinator at the Wisconsin chapter of the Sierra Club, told WisBusiness.com. “Why would you even play the game of picking between those two when there’s a much cleaner solution out there?”
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state chamber of commerce, some trade unions and energy providers, such as Madison-based Alliant Energy, are among the groups registered in favor of the bill.
Petersen is not the first lawmaker to attempt to remove the moratorium. Former state Rep. and current Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch introduced a similar bill in 2003 and Gov. Scott Walker supported lifting the ban in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
A vote on the bill has not been scheduled.
