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State Representative Joyce Peppin
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7806
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Response: Nuclear Energy as Part of our Energy Future
To the Editor,
A recent letter in the Champlin-Dayton press questioned my efforts to overturn the state’s moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and suggested doing so would be irresponsible. While I appreciate the writer’s heartfelt concerns and respect his difference of opinion, I do need to correct some misinformation that was provided.
The letter claimed that nuclear power is much more costly than alternatives, costing 10-17 cents per kilowatt hour versus 4-7 cents per kilowatt hour for wind production. Those numbers aren’t even in the ballpark. According the Nuclear Energy Institute, the average cost of nuclear power averages 1.7 cents per kwh, which includes the cost of operating a plant, purchasing nuclear fuel and managing used fuel.
While wind production is an energy alternative we should continue to pursue, the cost estimates presented don’t consider the millions in state and federal subsidies paid to wind producers each year or the cost of maintaining more expensive, emission-intensive gas or coal plants needed to provide baseload power when the wind doesn’t blow. They also don’t account for the significant upgrades to the state’s transmission grid that will be needed to distribute the power or the costs of land acquisition. It would take a land mass acquisition equal to the size of West Virginia just to match our current annual nuclear energy production.
The United States Department of Energy forecasts the U.S. will need about 260,000 megawatts of new electricity generating capacity by 2030, the equivalent of 260 new nuclear power plants. This rising energy need makes nuclear plants, as well as wind production, hydro, coal, natural gas, geothermal, biomass and emerging renewable sources as absolutely vital to our energy mix. The need for new baseload power in Minnesota is especially challenging since plans to build Big Stone II, a 600 megawatt coal-fired baseload power plant, were cancelled last month after environmental activists took issue with the use of coal.
The writer makes a valid point concerning the need for a long-term storage facility to handle nuclear power waste. The federal government most certainly should move swiftly to allow the construction of an underground repository for permanent disposal at Yucca Mountain, Nevada or another location. Unfortunately, environmental extremists led by U.S. Senator Harry Reid have blocked these efforts since the early 1980s.
While I agree we need to pursue renewable energy alternatives to meet our future energy needs, we can’t leave nuclear out of the mix. If we did, we’d lose around 20% of our country’s energy production, which most certainly would have to be made up in part by fossil fuels. When you consider that the carbon dioxide and other emissions prevented by nuclear power plants equal those produced by all U.S. passenger cars, disregarding nuclear energy is not a sensible alternative.
There has been a growing bi-partisan effort to remove the state’s ban on constructing new nuclear power plants. Minnesota Congressmen Erik Paulsen (R) and Tim Walz (D) and a large bi-partisan group of Minnesota legislators are just a few of the people who support ending the ban. Democratic U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Kerry also support the construction of additional nuclear power facilities.
It is imperative Minnesota and the United States move forward with an energy policy that makes us less dependent on foreign sources. Republicans, Independents and Democrats agree. Business groups and labor unions agree.
It’s time for the far-left extremists to take a hard look at the alternatives and stop blocking the production and safe storage of nuclear power.
Sincerely,
Rep. Joyce Peppin
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