Cheap natural gas had cut regional electricity prices in half, pushing Pennsylvania’s nine reactors, which produce one-third of the state’s power, toward unprofitability. The six retiring nuclear plants generated nearly 60 million megawatt-hours of electricity last year, more than all of America’s solar panels combined, according to an analysis by Environmental Progress, a green group pushing to save nuclear power. Few companies are contemplating new nuclear plants to replace those lost, deterred by high costs and challenges in construction. The contested push to keep plants goingThe push to save nuclear power began in August when regulators in New York moved to subsidize three upstate nuclear plants in danger of closing by, in effect, compensating them for the zero-carbon power they produced. Officials concluded that New York could not meet its ambitious climate goals if those plants shut down.

Source: New York Times June 13, 2017 14:34 UTC