Assembly Backs Nuclear Tax Credits Amid Data Center Boom
Wide bipartisan vote advances 20-year incentives for new reactors, adds new rules.
Nuclear power plant in Michigan City. Paul J Everett (CC-BY-2.0)
The state Assembly passed a package of nuclear energy incentives Thursday, with backers promising a “nuclear renaissance” in Wisconsin amid a data center building boom.
The legislation, authored by State Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, and state Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, would offer two decades of tax credits for companies building new nuclear plants in the state. During the first 10 years, they’d qualify for annual $10,000 credits. After that, the credits would decrease by $1,000 per year.
It would make nuclear energy a high priority for Wisconsin and include nuclear power alongside other sources like wind and solar in a new “low-carbon-emission resource” definition in state law. It would also authorize the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to approve tariffs aimed at preventing residential customers from paying costs associated with providing electricity to large users, like data centers.
It passed the Assembly on an 86-11 vote, with with strong support from both parties.
Assembly debate focuses on data center energy draws, cost concerns
During debate on his bill in the Assembly Thursday, Sortwell said the tax credits would only cover the costs for facilities to get relicensed with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and wouldn’t subsidize construction or energy production. He said the bill had been in the works for more than a year and urged passage despite “a little bit of heartburn” from some members and groups.
“It’s not exactly what Shae Sortwell would write if I could make it exactly what I want,” said Sortwell. “But this is a bill that had a lot of cooperation and collaboration with a whole lot of interested parties.”
State Rep. Angela Stroud, D-Ashland, was one of the 11 members to oppose the legislation. Ahead of her vote, she said she’s “open minded” about nuclear power, but warned new facilities are “extremely expensive to build” and costs could be shifted to residents.
“Right now, we are giving the richest companies in the history of the world tax breaks, that is taxpayer dollars, to build data centers while their profits soar,” said Stroud. “Unlike data centers, when it comes to utilities, it’s the public that’s on the hook if we don’t get it right.”
Unlikely allies: Free market, environmental lobby groups oppose legislation
The bill was also opposed by an unlikely coalition of groups like the conservative Americans for Prosperity, Clean Wisconsin and the utility watchdog Citizens Utility Board. Ahead of the Assembly vote, Eric Bott, a former director of AFP-Wisconsin, warned in a social media post that it could result in “monopoly utility lobbyists” trying to shift nuclear plant cost overruns to residential and small business customers.
Sortwell responded with a press release Thursday, accusing Americans for Prosperity of being “dishonest” for opposing the bill despite changes that were requested by the group, which he noted is funded “by those with a large stake in fossil fuels.”
“It is a sad day when an organization that claims to support liberty joins the fight with far-left environmentalists to shut down direly needed energy supply expansion, which would lower energy bills for Wisconsinites and create thousands of jobs,” said Sortwell’s release.
Legislation follows several nuclear power measures being signed into law
Unlike in years past, Democrats and Republicans have, for the most part, gotten behind the push for new nuclear power facilities in Wisconsin recently. Currently, the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Two Rivers is the only plant of its kind in the state.
The Wisconsin state budget, signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July, included $2 million for a nuclear power feasibility study. Later, he signed legislation creating a nuclear power summit board to advance nuclear and fusion energy in the state and directing the state Public Service Commission to study potential sites for new reactors.
Nuclear power tax credit measure passes Assembly with wide bipartisan support was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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The proposed tax credit is not $10,000 – it is $10,000 per megawatt of capacity. Thus, for a facility the size of Point Beach, which has capacity of 1182 megawatts, the tax credit is $11.8 million per year for the first ten years.