New York governor seeks to build the state’s first new nuclear power plant in decades

New York’s governor on Monday proposed the construction of the state’s first new nuclear power plant in decades.

Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the state’s power authority to develop an advanced, “zero-emission” facility in upstate New York that she hopes will help create a clean, reliable and affordable electric grid for the state.

She said the state power authority will seek to develop “at least” one new nuclear energy facility with a combined capacity of no less than one gigawatt of electricity. That would increase the state’s total nuclear capacity to about 4.3 gigawatts.

The Democrat said the state needs to secure its “energy independence” if it wants to continue to attract large manufacturers that create good-paying jobs as it deactivates aging fossil fuel power plants.

The governor said the state hasn’t decided on a potential location, but that upstate communities appear receptive, given the potential for creating 1,600 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs once the facility is operational.

Among those likely in the running is the Nine Mile Point nuclear plant in Oswego. Hochul’s administration has been supportive of Maryland power company Constellation’s bid to build a new nuclear reactor at the two-reactor facility.

Georgia Power Company completed the first two new nuclear reactors in the country in a generation last year. But Units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia, cost nearly $35 billion and were powered up some seven years later than initially hoped.