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Energy Bill Aids Nuclear Expansion Plans

By Edmund L. Andrews and Matthew L. Wald WASHINGTON, July 30 – A one-sentence provision buried in the Senate’s recently passed energy bill, inserted without debate at the urging of the nuclear power industry, could make builders of new nuclear plants eligible for tens of billions of dollars in government loan guarantees. Lobbyists have told lawmakers and administration officials in recent weeks that the nuclear industry needs as much as $50 billion in loan guarantees over the next two years to finance a major expansion. The biggest champion of the loan guarantees is Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee and one of the nuclear industry’s strongest supporters in Congress. Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico and the energy bill’s author, has long argued that nuclear power plants do not need federal loan guarantees. Mr. Bingaman said that the industry was over-interpreting the provision and that it would provide loan guarantees for only the most innovative power plants. But the provision has the potential to considerably expand the nuclear industry, which plans to build 28 new reactors at an estimated cost of about $4 billion to $5 billion apiece. And while […]

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Top 25 Green Power Purchasers

The EPA has updated its Top Green Power Purchasers list highlighting organizations committed to purchasing green power. The National Top 25 list of Green Power Partners accounts for more than 6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year of green power purchasing, more than 60 percent of the total kWh in the Green Power Partnership; reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 700,000 vehicles. America is shifting to a ‘green culture,’ with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility,” said Marcus Peacock, EPA’s Deputy Administrator. “EPA commends the leading Green Power Partners for making a long-term commitment to protecting the environment.” EPA’s National Top 25 list ranks two of Pepsi’s three independent bottlers at fourth and 13th. Kohl’s Department Stores increased its green power purchases to raise its ranking to eighth nationally, and Mohawk Fine Papers places on the list at 22nd. The Pepsi bottler purchase demonstrates that a group of companies, tied together by a supply chain, can help protect the environment by buying green power. The total aggregate purchase of the three independent bottlers is nearly 629 million kWh per year. Two of the three bottlers rank on EPA’s National Top 25 list, […]

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