Nuclear companies and others ask Senate to maintain energy tax credits
Energy companies that represent technologies that provide stable and consistent baseload power urged U.S. Senate leaders on Tuesday to preserve the clean energy tax credit that was effectively eliminated by a Republican Bill passed last month by Congress.
Why it's important
Republicans, including U.S. president Donald Trump, have criticised clean energy tax credit programs for encouraging intermittent renewable energy like wind and sun that fluctuates depending on the weather. They claim that the country needs more baseload electricity, including coal and natural gases, to meet the soaring demand for electricity tied to artificial intelligence and data centers.
In a letter sent Tuesday, however, a grouping of companies and organizations from the nuclear, energy storage and geothermal sectors, as well as hydropower, said that they too need subsidies to support the baseload technologies.
KEY QUOTE
These credits are essential for baseload technologies to plan long-term investments, secure financing and build infrastructure that will support a resilient and reliable grid. Altering availability, phasing out schedule or transferability would undermine the firm's capacity that is currently in active development, as well as America's broader goal of energy security and productive investments.
Signatories of the letter include Fervo Energy (geothermal), Form Energy (storage), Oklo, TerraPower and Oklo Nuclear Technology. The letter was signed by several advocacy organizations representing hydropower and geothermal energy, as well as advanced nuclear. (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates; Nichola Groom)
(source: Reuters)
