Minnesota House lifts ban on building nuclear power plants
By Dennis Lien, St. Paul Pioneer Press
dlien@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 05/06/2010
The Minnesota House approved an energy bill today that lifts a 16-year ban on new nuclear power plants, but applies such tough conditions that opponents say it doesn't change the landscape much.
House members voted 73-59 for an amendment that Rep. Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson, offered to a bill he sponsored cleaning up outdated energy language. The overall bill passed on 86-43 vote.
The conditions Hilty offered don't allow a utility building a new nuclear plant to recover any planning, design, engineering or permitting costs from ratepayers until the plant starts operating. It also doesn't allow utilities to recover construction cost overruns from ratepayers. And, other than regulatory costs incurred by state agencies, it doesn't allow taxes to be used for any construction or operating expenses.
