It’s bad enough that Exelon Corp. is seeking public subsidies to keep open its economically failing Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg. Worse is that some Pennsylvania “leaders” appear to be open to entertaining the idea.
The Chicago company announced on May 30 that unless “The State” steps in, it will close the Dauphin County facility in September 2019. That would be 15 years before its operating license expires.
As the Post-Gazette reported, nuclear plants “are struggling to continue as the low cost of natural gas pushes down prices in the deregulated market.”
Well, if they can’t compete in the open market, why should taxpayers bail them out?
In a written statement, Exelon President and CEO Chris Crane said “the commonwealth has an opportunity to take a leadership role by implementing a policy solution to preserve its nuclear energy facilities and the clean, reliable energy and good-paying jobs they provide.”
But since when does “leadership” involve perverting market forces and propping up failing enterprises, actions fraught with peril for the economy and taxpayers alike? That’s not a “policy solution.” That’s a policy disaster.
The respective party chairs of the Pennsylvania Legislature’s Nuclear Energy Caucus say their goal is to find strategies “that promote long-term economic, environmental and consumer benefits.”
Uh-oh.
Exelon’s tactic is not new; it did the exact same thing not long ago in Illinois and in New York. Citing information from Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts, the P-G says taxpayers in the Land of Lincoln will be nicked for $235 million annually while those in the Empire State could pay more than $7 billion — $7 billion – over a dozen years.
Power prices have been falling in the region in recent years, the P-G reminds, the product of new natural gas power plants and falling demand.
The market is speaking. The trends are clear. Rescuing the nuclear industry with public money would be a very damaging public policy.
It’s bad enough that the Allegheny County Airport Authority and the county itself are subsidizing yet another airline to operate in Pittsburgh. Worse is that it did so, in part, in secrecy.
The Tribune-Review reports that a total of $3 million in grants and loans are being given to OneJet “to persuade the carrier to base its operations in Pittsburgh and add 10 regional flights on its seven-seat jets.” OneJet caters to about 1,700 business travelers a month, the newspaper reported.
But it took a Trib request under the state’s Right-to-Know law to shake loose all of the subsidy information.
A million dollars of the corporate wealthfare is coming from gambling tax revenues. The Trib says that money was allocated by the authority not only without public
announcement but without a vote of the airport authority. That board reportedly has given the CEO the authority to cut such deals – up to any amount.
Where’s the oversight?
The Trib says two private benefactors invested $500 million in the deal. That’s laudable. But airport and county leaders have no business yet again turning taxpayers into venture capitalists.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,” begins the axiom that ends thusly: “Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
That’s the ancient and still sound principle being employed by Phipps Conservatory’s Homegrown program that’s been operating in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood since 2013.
The program was featured in both the Tribune-Review and Post-Gazette in recent days.
Designed to increase the community’s access to fresh-grown produce, Homegrown has installed 125 raised bed vegetable gardens. That’s an incredible accomplishment.
Seventy-five more are proposed for this year. That’s an impressive goal.
The program, funded by a private foundation grant, supports gardeners for two years, providing such staples as supplies to build and maintain the beds in addition to soil, seeds and plants. There’s plenty of available advice. And these gardeners, after their second year, are expected to mentor up-and-coming green thumbs.
The goal, of course, is to promote self-sufficiency. About 90 percent of first-year gardeners become second-year gardeners, the program coordinator says.
Longer term numbers are needed to accurately gauge the success of the program. To wit, if a high percentage of the gardens are abandoned after the subsidies end, perhaps a “re-think” will be in order. But the anecdotal evidence suggests the program has been a positive force in Homewood, helping to build a better sense of community.
Give a person a tomato and you feed him for a day. Teach people to garden and you feed them – if not a community – for life. And reduce the strain on precious taxpayer dollars in the process.
Colin McNickle is a senior fellow at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
