Industry Social Media and Updates

Illinois Should Scrap Net‑zero Mandate for Cheaper Power

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker just issued an order aimed at facilitating at least 2 GW in nuclear capacity additions. It's good to see an increasingly wider recognition of the potential of nuclear power, which has been stunted for decades by pseudoscientific regulation. However, governments shouldn't replace the criminalization of nuclear with mandates for certain amounts of nuclear. In its current form, nuclear is (unfortunately and unnecessarily) highly expensive to build. In many cases it would be cheaper to build natural gas—which Illinois can't, because of its "net zero" electricity mandate. If Illinois wants cheap, reliable electricity, it should repeal its "net zero" mandate and let the market determine what generation needs to be built.