wittgensteins-boat t1_ix7mbx5 wrote
Reply to comment by MoonlessPrairie in Higher energy prices are a call for more renewables and maybe nuclear, not more pipelines by TeacherGuy1980
Towns with municipal power companies as members of the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric power company are partial owners of Seabrook and other Nuclear plants, and have lower electric rates than commercial utilities as a consequence.
MoonlessPrairie t1_ix9wgsu wrote
I don't think those two things are actually correlated. The nuclear plants were extraordinarily expensive to build and operate with Seabrook bankrupting PS of New Hampshire in 1988.
wittgensteins-boat t1_ixakzm2 wrote
PSNH defaulted on its bonds in 1988, and bond holders had initiated attachment of property securing the bonds.
The utility was too small to take on the lead of constructing two nuclear power plants, and got in over its head.
PSNH had veen ordered to reduce its share from 50% to 35.6% by the NHPUC by 1984.
Seabrook II was abandoned in 1984 at a cost of 800 million to shareholders of that unit.
Also Seabrook Co-owners formed Yankee NH , taking construction control off the hands of PSNH, in March 1984.
Seabrook I was completed. PSNH owned 35% Mass. Municipal Wholesale Electric Co. -- MMWEC continued as partial owners, along with other utilities.
PSNH filed for Bankrptcy protection when the NH Supreme Court issued an opinion to the NH Utilities Commission, confirming that ratepayers cannot be billed for non operating assets. In 1991 PSNH exited bankruptcy, and six months later agreed to be taken over by Northeast Utilities, which paid 2.3 billion for the transaction, keeping the PSNH share of Seabrook.
A unit of Florida Power and Light, subsequently named NEXTRA, bought the non municipal shares of Seabrook I and 2002, and the Seabrook II assets.
Mass Municipal Utilities have about 50% of their total source electricity from Nuclear power, and large percentage of hydro sourcing, making them less affected by rising gas and oil costs.
References.
PUBLIC SERVICE OF N.H. FILES FOR CHAPTER 11.
By John M. Berry.
January 29, 1988
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1988/01/29/public-service-of-nh-files-for-chapter-11/891cd39e-c273-4458-9a76-2697a87c27b3/
Public Service of New Hampshire.
Reference for Business.
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/88/Public-Service-Company-of-New-Hampshire.html.
Study by the Analysis Group entitled “Fuel Mix and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Municipal Electric Light Plants in Massachusetts”
(Via Hudson Power and Light, Hudson MA)
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