Oldest nuclear power plant in NJ will close

Forty seven percent of the electricity generated in New Jersey comes from nuclear power plants. There are four plants in the state, and one is scheduled to close in a few years.

Board of Public Utilities President Richard Mroz says the planned 2019 shutdown of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Forked River, owned by Exelon should not cause concerns about the reliability of the state’s electric grid.

“Even though we will lose that generation, there have been other new generation assets built in New Jersey largely with gas fired generation.”

New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel agrees that the state should be able to make up for the loss of Oyster Creek’s power generation, but believes the Christie administration should encourage more development of renewable energy.

“They keep pushing natural gas pipelines and natural gas power plants”, said Tittlel. “Yet at the same time they’re blocking offshore wind.”

PSE&G is exploring the possibility of building a new nuclear reactor in Salem, but Mroz says there’s no specific proposal because the costs would be significant.