NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) — New York Governor Kathy Hochul plans to significantly ramp up the state’s nuclear capacity to meet surging demand for electricity.
The state will seek to develop 5 gigawatts of new reactors, a major increase from the plan Hochul announced last year to add 1 gigawatt. She’s expected to disclose the target during the annual State of the State speech Tuesday, according to a spokesperson from the New York Power Authority.
Power consumption is climbing across the US, driven by data centers, industrial users and more electrified homes. Hochul warned last year that without more generation, the state would face the risk of shortages and rolling blackouts. In the case of New York, there’s also a priority to add clean energy even though it takes a decade or longer to build.
The state has 3.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity at three plants upstate that all date to the 1980s and earlier. The Indian Point power plant near New York City was shuttered in 2021, near the end of a wave of closures that saw more than a dozen US reactors go dark. Since then, nuclear companies have experienced a major reversal, with growing interest in fission that can supply clean energy around the clock.
One gigawatt is typically enough to power about 750,000 US homes.
Hochul’s increased nuclear target was initially reported by the Post-Standard, a local newspaper in Syracuse.
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