NJ’s PSEG revokes Nuclear Plant Capital Projects

New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group is revoking spending on capital projects at a nuclear plant because a $300 million taxpayer-funded financial bailout of state’s nuclear industry has blocked in the legislature.

Public Service Enterprise Group said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated Wednesday that it will halt the projects at the Salem nuclear plant in southern New Jersey. A spokesman said the spending covered efficiency and reliability maintenance. PSEG says the decision comes after “recent postponements” of a vote on legislation to provide the financial rescue.  The bill, which has undergone several changes and was held during a recent session, includes clean-energy requirements that lawmakers say were sought by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

PSEG spokesman Michael Jennings said “And it will impact jobs, because our vendors hire skilled tradespeople – electricians, pipefitters, laborers and others — to complete these types of projects.”

New Jersey generates about 40 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. PSEG says that its plants, including the Salem facility and Hope Creek, are in danger of becoming financially unsustainable within two years. That led PSEG President and CEO Ralph Izzo to ask lawmakers for financial help from ratepayers.

The plants also employ roughly 2,000 people, particularly in Senate President Steve Sweeney’s district. Sweeney, who has pushed the legislation, has cited those jobs as a factor. His office said he had no comment on PSEG’s decision to cut capital spending at the Salem plant.