Entergy says industrial customers must help finance new nuclear plants
(The Center Square) — Entergy says it cannot build new nuclear power plants without financial backing from large industrial customers, underscoring the economic challenges facing Louisiana's push to expand nuclear energy as electricity demand surges. "Nuclear generation is going to be essential to meet the rapid growth we're seeing through 2050," Jeremy Hilsabeck, an Entergy representative, said Tuesday. "We recognize the significant financial commitment of nuclear, and we're going to require the backing of a large customer in order to pursue that." "We don't want to put it on the backs of traditional ratepayers, so the industrials are going to have to help us make that happen," he added. The comments highlight a central obstacle to the renewed enthusiasm for nuclear power: While the technology promises reliable electricity around the clock, its enormous upfront costs and lengthy construction timelines make new projects difficult to finance without customers willing to commit to purchasing their output for decades. Entergy, which operates Louisiana's two commercial nuclear power plants, is evaluating several technologies for expanding its generation fleet, including conventional large-scale reactors, small modular reactors and advanced designs that use alternative cooling technologies. Hilsabeck said the utility has signed several memorandums of understanding with
