Is nuclear energy renewable? If Missouri House passes HB1851, it is
JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri lawmaker met heavy resistance this morning to his bill that would change the definition of renewable energy to include nuclear power.
The proposal, filed by Rep. Jerry Nolte, R-Gladstone, is an attempt to change the meaning of Proposition C, a voter initiative that passed in 2008 requiring utilities to obtain 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2021.
Nolte wants utilities to have the option of including nuclear power alongside wind, solar and biomass, but Democrats were quick to point out that nuclear energy, by definition, isn’t renewable.
“I’ve been searching the Internet for the past two days and I can’t find a definition anywhere that ties nuclear energy and renewable energy together,” said Rep. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors. “It’s a huge stretch.”
P.J. Wilson of Renew Missouri, who helped write Proposition C, testified that including nuclear power in portfolio of renewable energy would completely go against the spirit of the ballot initiative, which passed by about a two-t0-one margin.
Nolte’s bill is backed by rural electrical cooperatives in Missouri. Last session, the rural coops backed a bill pushed by Ameren UE that would have made it easier for the investor-owned utility to finance a proposed new nuclear plant adjacent to the nuclear facility the company already owns in Callaway County. Ameren has since dropped plans to build the second unit.
But the rural coops — who had planned to invest in Callaway II — see nuclear energy as part of their future investment portfolio. Lobbyist Brent Stewart of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives testified in favor of Nolte’s bill.
