PSEG Nuclear’s Salem Creek nuclear power plant

By Frank Brill
EnviroPolitics Editor


If you wondered why New Jersey’s largest utility, Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG), risked the criticism it received for trying to slip its big, nuclear bail-out bill through the state legislature during he waning days of the recent lame duck session, now you know. The more exposure the bill receives, the harder it is to pass.


Environmentalists and large-power users like chemical manufacturers rebelled against the legislation even before it was introduced. They knew that Senate President Steve Sweeney, the bill’s prime sponsor, would try to rush the high-cost measure through in the final days of the recently concluded session, when a glut of bills would be up for votes and attention spans would be short.   


That strategy likely would have worked had incoming Gov. Phil Murphy not started to suggest changes including concessions to environmentalists. 


The bill stalled, was re-worked for the new session–and has been changed again since its reintroduction. But the opposition continues to grow and the measure was pulled from a committee agenda yesterday.