PHOENIX — As more people and businesses move to Arizona and place increasing demands on the electric grid, the state’s three major utilities are exploring the possibility of more nuclear power reactors.
The Arizona Corporation Commission held the first of three workshops on Wednesday about advancing nuclear power in Arizona.
Commissioners learned it could be a long and expensive road toward the utilities possibly building more nuclear reactors.
State regulators said they want to position Arizona to meet energy needs.
“The intent of this is to start trying to pave the road for future nuclear development,” said Nick Myers, the commission’s vice chairman. He and Commissioner Rene Lopez are leading the nuclear power workshop discussions.
In Arizona, the Palo Verde Generating Station has supplied power to parts of Arizona since the mid-1980s. The three-reactor plant is an hour west of Phoenix, just off the I-10.
On Wednesday, the commission heard from nuclear consultants, local utilities and representatives from nuclear plants in Georgia and Canada.
Bob Coward, principal officer with MPR Associates, told commissioners there’s a big demand for nuclear nationally.
“Let’s be honest,” he said. “Things are not moving as fast in this country as perhaps we’d like to see.”
He said company CEOs are cautious about the newest versions of nuclear power, which include much smaller reactors.
“What they care about is what is it going to cost me? What’s the risk?” he said.
Even a small nuclear reactor, like one under construction in Canada, can cost upward of $6 billion.
Arizona’s three major utilities told commissioners they are at the very beginning of planning. Arizona Public Service, which operates Palo Verde, recently applied for a federal grant to identify potential locations for more nuclear power. Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power are partners on the grant application.
Brian Cole, vice president of resource management for APS, told commissioners possible locations include coal plants that are already retired or slated for retirement and as well as “a lot more sites as well.”
He expects to have an answer back on whether the utilities receive the grant from the U.S. Department of Energy by the end of the year. With or without the grant, “I think the utilities are committed to moving forward,” he said.
The potential for more nuclear power reactors is already drawing criticism from utility watchdogs like Diane Brown. She’s the executive director of Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.
“Nuclear energy is known to be extremely expensive, often over budget and it has serious negative impacts on ratepayers,” she told ABC15 during a break in Wednesday’s meeting.
“It is really important that commissioners are drilling down into a number of factors, cost being foremost,” she said.
The commission is planning to have two more workshops on nuclear power later this year.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter and Facebook.
