Bill to lift state ban on new nuclear power plants gets held over by committee

Minnesota may not now need any new nuclear power plants, but neither does it need its 21-year-old statute outlawing them.

That’s what supporters of HF1400, a bill to repeal the state’s 1994 ban on nuclear power plant construction, told the House Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee Wednesday.

The panel laid the bill over for possible inclusion in a future bill. The companion, SF306, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake), awaits action by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee.

Rep. Eric Lucero

Ending the moratorium would let utilities again consider the nuclear generator option, said Rep. Eric Lucero (R-Dayton), the bill’s sponsor. He said constituents of his district appreciated the safe operation of Xcel Energy’s nearby Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant.

Rick Evans, director of regional government affairs at Xcel Energy, speaking in support of the bill, reminded the committee even if it were to become law, the state Public Utilities Commission would remain the “ultimate decision maker.”

Bill Heaney, legislative and political director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Minnesota State Council, also favored the repeal. He called the current law “meaningless” and said it “would fly off the books in a blink of an eye” if utilities needed more generating capacity, found construction costs economical, and had a solution for the problem of permanently storing radioactive spent fuel — “but none of those stars are aligned now.”

The problem of storing nuclear waste troubled others at the hearing, including Bill Grant, deputy commerce commissioner, who said his agency supports current law to avoid “exposing ourselves to the higher costs and risks of nuclear power.”

Nuclear power is not cost-effective, said Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park), noting recent cost overruns in updating the Monticello plant.

Hortman asked Evans about the price tag for heavy security she had observed at Xcel’s Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant — “nice young men walking around with machine guns strapped to the front of their bodies and other types of weaponry attached to their shins.”

Evans said he didn’t know the cost of securing Xcel’s two Minnesota nuclear plants.

“How many armed guards do you have at Sherco or any of the wind facilities that you own?” Hortman asked. When Evans again demurred, Hortman redirected the question to Rep. Jim Newberger (R-Becker), whose district includes the coal-powered Sherburne County Generating Station, also called Sherco.

Newberger’s riposte: “Rep. Hortman, you can probably consider most of the residents of Sherburne County as the armed guards.”