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WengFu t1_ixjbddw wrote

Reply to comment by Synapse82 in We might be waiting a decade for solutions to CT's high energy costs by -ctinsider

They closed the nuclear power plants because they were antiques and it wasn't profitable to run them.

If it was profitable to build and operate new nuclear power stations, they would be hard at work building and operating new ones right now.

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HubcapMotors t1_ixjjjs0 wrote

Does it need to be profitable, though?

I mean, I get how a for-profit business needs to be profitable. But this is power generation, an essential part of a modern economy. We don't need a profit motive to make these nuclear plants.

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G3Saint t1_ixjnfsg wrote

this is a free market economy, power plants - solar gas wind nuke coal , are built by companies, not the government.

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HubcapMotors t1_ixjvd9m wrote

There are 44 million electric customers served by public utilities or not for profit co-ops: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40913

And ten percent of electricity generated in the US is generated in public power plants: https://www.publicpower.org/public-power/stats-and-facts

So it is a thing, we just need to make sure it's a thing here in Connecticut.

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G3Saint t1_ixjvoxr wrote

Oh, correct. But it is occurring in Connecticut.- wallingfird, jewett city, groton, third district of Norwalk.

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Charley2014 t1_ixjwayk wrote

To be honest, I don’t think a lot of people even know the meaning of a free market economy or how it applies to their day to day life.

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WengFu t1_ixjrvjy wrote

You are preaching to the choir but, unfortunately, that is not how our system works.

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CoarsePage t1_ixjqy4v wrote

It is profitable, but riskier. At least that was the analysis 15 or so years ago when the market decided on natural gas as the "best" option for power generation in New England.

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jabbadad2 t1_iy0zkbf wrote

It was shortsighted decisionmaking. At the time they seemed expensive to maintain. In today's economy and energy "shortage" they are a bargain. Solar and wind are no bargain, environmentally wasteful and only benefit China.

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WengFu t1_iy12qtg wrote

Yes, but what solar power generation facility failure has resulted in 20 mile exclusion zones and cleanup costs approaching $1 trillion USD?

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