Albany County delays public hearing; unnamed member proposes adding nuclear-supply language to energy notice

An Albany County meeting on an unspecified date voted to amend the public hearing notice and to move a county energy-policy item out of committee for a public hearing after a member proposed adding language to include components of the nuclear industry in the county’s energy policy notice.

The change to the public hearing notice and the broader policy proposal were raised by an unidentified meeting participant (hereafter "Speaker 2"), who described the amendment as part of an "all-of-the-above" approach to energy and urged the county to be open to "components of the nuclear industry" without endorsing construction of a nuclear plant in Albany County. "I am not suggesting that there should be a nuclear facility in Albany County," Speaker 2 said. "What it says is if there are components of the nuclear industry that are going to help add to the . . . emissionless generation of electricity, we should be open to supporting that."

Why it matters: Speaker 2 framed the proposal as a response to what they described as a state and regional generation shortfall. They cited Governor Hochul, NYSERDA, and the Public Service Commission as evidence that New…