WASHINGTON, D.C.— Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, today urged lawmakers to support increased federal loan guarantee authority for new nuclear power facilities to help meet growing U.S. demand, address climate change, and create American jobs.
Testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Guith said that fostering the deployment of clean energy technologies is a major component of fulfilling the government’s obligation to formulate energy policy, and that the Department of Energy loan guarantees are an effective tool that minimizes costs to taxpayers.
“More clean nuclear power, fostered by federal loan guarantees, will improve our energy security while protecting taxpayer liability,” Guith said. “Federal estimates show that ratepayers could see significant savings in the cost of power from a new nuclear plant with a loan guarantee.”
Federal loan guarantees – which are not direct loans – enable companies to obtain better financing terms for large scale projects that employ new or significantly improved energy technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants and greenhouse gases. T he program is designed to be self-funding by fees levied on the applicants. In 2008, the Energy Institute made dozens of recommendations to the new Congress and Administration including the expansion of the federal loan guarantee program to support multiple nuclear power plants and other clean energy projects. In the proposed FY2011 budget, the Obama Administration accepted this recommendation and announced its request for up to $54 billion in new loan guarantee authority.
The loan guarantee program for new nuclear projects originated in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which passed Congress with broad, bipartisan support. While it has taken five years to formulate the rules of the program, in February the Obama Administration issued its first conditional loan guarantee for two new state-of-the-art reactors at Southern Company's Vogtle Nuclear Site in Georgia.
“If all 26 of the proposed nuclear reactors are built, we estimate that up to 240,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created by 2030,” Guith said. “On average, a plant also provides nearly $100 million in tax revenues to the federal, state and local governments. Given that nuclear power is the largest source of emissions-free electricity in the United States, it is not surprising that public support for nuclear power has climbed to all-time high levels—62 percent in a new Gallup poll.”
The 104 nuclear reactors in the United States in 2008 prevented nearly 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions—an amount equivalent to nearly all passenger cars. The Energy Institute discussed the benefits of the nuclear loan guarantee program in its March 2010 newsletter, available here.
The mission of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy is to unify policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and the American public behind a common sense energy strategy to help keep America secure, prosperous, and clean. Through policy development, education, and advocacy, the Institute is building support for meaningful action at the local, state, national, and international levels.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.