Nuclear task force holds first meeting as NJ pursues new reactors

Five subcommittees will address financing, permitting, technology, workforce needs, and public engagement.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s Nuclear Task Force held its first meeting Thursday, establishing five subcommittees to help New Jersey prepare for new nuclear power development amid rising electricity costs and growing demand.

The panel reviewed a draft charter and outlined its work on regulatory requirements, financing, technology, workforce training, and public engagement. Sherrill also announced the launch of Nuclear NJ, a state website with information about nuclear energy and updates on the administration’s efforts.

Sherrill has made expanding nuclear generation part of her strategy to increase electricity supply, arguing that new reactors will help lower costs and meet the state’s long-term energy needs.

“New Jersey needs more clean, reliable power to lower costs, meet growing demand, and fuel our economy for decades to come. Next-generation nuclear will help us get there at scale,” Sherrill said in a statement.

The task force’s first meeting comes nearly nine months after Sherrill established the panel through Executive Order No. 2 on her first day in office. That order also directed state agencies to accelerate solar power, battery storage and grid improvements as electricity demand rises across the PJM regional grid, driven largely by data centers.

Elizabeth Noll, the governor’s senior energy strategist, and Ben Hertz-Shargel, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, co-chair the task force. Its members include state officials and representatives of the nuclear industry, business groups, organized labor, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Industry representatives include Charles McFeaters, president and chief nuclear officer of PSEG Nuclear, and Patrick O’Brien, Holtec’s director of government affairs and communications.

The five subcommittees will examine different parts of nuclear development:

• Regulation and permitting: Review requirements and identify ways to streamline development.
• Financing: Assess financing options and agreements for purchasing electricity from new plants.
• Supply chains and technology: Evaluate equipment and material needs and emerging technologies.
• Workforce: Identify training needs and ways to develop the skilled workforce needed to support the industry.
• Public engagement: Develop strategies to explain advanced nuclear power and solicit community input.

The administration’s nuclear push has already produced two significant changes in state law.

In April, Sherrill signed legislation removing a permitting restriction that had effectively blocked new nuclear construction for decades. The previous law required a federally approved method for radioactive waste disposal before new facilities could receive permits under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act. The change allows the Department of Environmental Protection commissioner to approve permits based on waste storage methods that comply with Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements.

In July, Sherrill signed the Power NJ Act, establishing a competitive process overseen by the Board of Public Utilities and Economic Development Authority to pursue at least 1,100 megawatts of new nuclear generation.

According to the governor’s office, the law requires projects to secure federal financing and demonstrate a net benefit to ratepayers. It also requires public comment periods and a hearing in any municipality proposed to host a project. Administration officials say ratepayers would not pay for the projects during construction or be responsible for cost overruns.

But whether new nuclear plants would lower electricity bills remains a point of contention.

During a June legislative hearing covered by The Jersey Vindicator, consumer advocates and environmental groups warned that the proposed procurement program could commit customers to decades of costs. Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, questioned why residential customers should help finance new generation and argued that data centers should shoulder those costs. David Pringle of Empower New Jersey argued that solar power, battery storage, efficiency measures and other options could be deployed sooner.

Supporters of the legislation acknowledged that nuclear development would not provide immediate relief. Ray Cantor of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association told lawmakers that nuclear power was a long-term investment needed to address future demand and reliability.

Holtec, the Camden-based company that owns the closed Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Lacey Township, has expressed interest in using its small modular reactor technology at the site. In an April interview with The Vindicator, O’Brien said new plants remained years away and would need financial support, including long-term agreements guaranteeing buyers for their electricity. He also identified federal regulatory approval and completion of Oyster Creek’s decommissioning as hurdles.

New Jersey’s existing Salem and Hope Creek nuclear plants supply more than 40% of the state’s electricity and roughly 80% of its carbon-free power, according to the governor’s office.