Rep. McCarty Testifies on Behalf of Millstone

Supports Proposed Bill to Keep Plant Open and Competitive

HARTFORD — State Representative Kathleen McCarty (R-38), who co-introduced a bill to promote zero-carbon electricity generation, testified this week at a public hearing before the Legislative Energy & Technology Committee to urge the members to also support the initiative and raise it for a House vote.

“I share my hometown of Waterford with the Millstone Power Plant, the largest power generating facility and only nuclear power facility left in Connecticut,” said Rep. McCarty. “It goes without saying that the economic well-being of my district, as well as the entire state, depends on the viability of Millstone, and this bill could significantly determine the plant’s future.

“As a state, we cannot afford to lose our Millstone – which is responsible for numerous economic development benefits to the region and state – to the competition that natural gas presents,” continued Rep. McCarty. “If Millstone prematurely closed like similar plants have in our neighboring states of Massachusetts, New York and Vermont, Connecticut would experience substantial negative impacts on our environment and economy – particularly in the cost of electricity. Without Millstone, emissions from Connecticut power plants would also increase by approximately 2.2 million metric tons each year; that’s the same as adding 470,000 more vehicles on our roads. Securing the viability of Millstone into the future is crucial to Waterford, the surrounding region and the state as a whole.”

Millstone currently provides the following benefits to the State of Connecticut:

• Supplies 98% of carbon dioxide-free electricity power to 60% of electricity consumers
• Produces zero greenhouse gas emissions associated with acid rain and smog
• Constantly produces non-polluting nuclear energy that is not only clean, but reliable
• Makes it possible to reach the state’s goal of reducing emissions by 80% of 1990 levels
• Supports approximately 4,000 jobs, towards which it spends over $100,000 million in annual salaries
• Projects to contribute more than $12 billion in economic benefits to the state between 2016 and 2013
• Contributes to the construction of geothermal schools and the Waterford Education Foundation as one of the town’s largest taxpayers
• Offers scholarships to Three Rivers Community College students
• Collaborates with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

“I support this bill as an initiative to provide an opportunity of state-sponsored competition and oversight of nuclear power with other eligible energy resources in the direct distribution of power to Connecticut consumers,” said Rep. McCarty. “However, I counsel that this legislation not be a subsidy, but merely a means to allow for such friendly and beneficial competition via a bidding process that is regulated by the state according to the ratepayer’s best interests.”

This legislation currently awaits committee action.