Unidentified witness says new nuclear plants would lower electricity costs for ratepayers

Unidentified Speaker 1, a questioner, asked how new nuclear facilities would affect ratepayers. "These new nuclear facilities, how would they work out in the long run for our rate payers?" the questioner asked.

Unidentified Speaker 2, a respondent, answered that nuclear generation delivers continuous capacity and long-term cost advantages. "First and foremost, they're 24/7. They are base load generation and capacity for our customers," the respondent said, adding that nuclear plants provide "fuel stability, and they have low operating cost." The respondent asserted: "So our in our market, when our nuclear units are running, our customers are paying less for the electricity that they receive than they otherwise would." The witness characterized those benefits as accruing "over the 60 to 80 year life of that plant."

The exchange was limited to a question-and-answer about costs and system attributes; no vote or formal action was recorded on the topic during the provided segments. The discussion framed nuclear as a reliable, long-lived source of generation with potential consumer cost benefits, but did not include supporting data, comparisons to alternative resources, or a follow-up analysis on up-front capital costs, financing, or rate-design implications.

No formal decision or directive was recorded in the transcript portion provided.