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Committee hears bill to create SMR pilot allowing utilities to partner with customers and investors
Summary
Lawmakers and stakeholders debated Senate Bill 423, which would authorize a statutory pilot to enable utilities to partner with customers, institutions and private capital to develop small modular reactors (SMRs) and allow limited up-front cost recovery. Supporters said the bill creates regulatory clarity; opponents warned it could shift financial
Senators and witnesses debated Senate Bill 423 on the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) during a hearing of the Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee. Senator Cook, the bill’s author, described SB 423 as a state pilot program that would create a statutory pathway for utilities to partner with eligible third parties to develop SMRs and permit predevelopment cost recovery under review by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC).
The bill would allow an eligible utility to partner with customers, other utilities, capital partners, military installations, reuse authorities, SMR manufacturers or state educational institutions to construct SMRs. "The purpose of the pilot is ... to facilitate the development of SMRs and to reduce the cost and risk that would otherwise be borne by a single eligible utility," Senator Cook told the committee.
Supporters including Joseph Rampala of Indiana Industrial Energy Consumers and Matt Long of the Indiana Energy Association said SB…
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