Ohio coal/nuclear ‘bailout’ plan part of larger debate...
Coal and nuclear, nuclear and coal - two sides of the same centralized coin.
Ohio bailout plan part of larger debate over nuclears future
WRITTEN BY
Kathiann M. Kowalski
7 hours ago
PHOTO BY
FirstEnergy / Creative Commons
An Ohio utilitys pursuit of a lifeline for an aging nuclear plant comes at a time when both economics and public opinion are aligning against nuclear power.
On March 31, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruled that all FirstEnergy utility customers should guarantee sales for all electricity produced by the Davis-Besse plant
along with certain coal generating plants in which FirstEnergy Solutions has an ownership interest.
The public debate around the plans has largely focused on fairness to consumers and competitors, but has occurred with a larger national discussion about nuclear power's role in a low-carbon future in the background.
Poll numbers released by Gallup last month show that, for the first time, a majority of Americans are opposed to nuclear power. The results follow a downward trend in public approval of nuclear over the last six or seven years, said Tim Judson, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Takoma Park, Maryland...
http://midwestenergynews.com/2016/04/11/ohio-bailout-plan-part-of-larger-debate-over-nuclears-future/
The Gallup poll is designed to capture the widest possible interpretation of "support" that the pollster could engineer. It doesn't ask if people want us to continue investing in nuclear power or if people think we should build more nuclear power. The fact that support is this low on this particular poll would spell real trouble for the industry if nuclear, like coal, were not the choice of the 1%.