New York Governor announces plans for new nuclear plant

Tuesday, 24 June 2025

The New York Power Authority (NYPA), in coordination with the Department of Public Service (DPS), "will seek to develop at least one new nuclear energy facility with a combined capacity of no less than one gigawatt of electricity, either alone or in partnership with private entities".

The announcement builds on Hochul's State of the State address, delivered in January, in which she outlined plans to develop a Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development in New York as part of a USD1 billion proposal to achieve a more sustainable - and affordable - future for the state. The development of the master plan is being led by York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) working with the Department of Public Service.

“As New York State electrifies its economy, deactivates aging fossil fuel power generation and continues to attract large manufacturers that create good-paying jobs, we must embrace an energy policy of abundance that centres on energy independence and supply chain security to ensure New York controls its energy future" Hochul said.

The New York Power Authority is to begin evaluation of technologies, business models, and locations for the first nuclear power plant immediately, and will secure the key partnerships needed for the project. This will include site and technology feasibility assessments as well as consideration of financing options. Candidate locations will be assessed for suitability based on public safety, strength of community support, compatibility with existing infrastructure, as well as skilled labour and land availability.

Four nuclear reactors - all operated by Constellation Energy - currently provide some 21.4% of all New York's electricity, and 41.6% of its carbon-free electricity, according to information from the Nuclear Energy Institute. The state has already supported the continued operation of those facilities - two units at Nine Mile Point and the single-unit Ginna and Fitzpatrick plants - by explicitly recognising the zero-carbon contribution of the plants in its 2016 Clean Energy Standard as critical in enabling it to meet its climate change targets.

"To power New York's future we need three things: reliability, affordability and sustainability - and nuclear drives all three," Hochul said as she announced the new initiative. The state will be looking for private partners to help finance the new plant, and will draw on support and lessons learned from other new nuclear projects including from the Tennessee Valley Authority and in Ontario. Hochul said she had "just last week … sat down with" Ontario's Premier Tom Ford "and had a great conversation about creating a memorandum of understanding because they are taking the lead on small modular reactors".

In May, President Donald Trump signed a raft of executive orders aimed at quadrupling the USA's nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Hochul said New York will also be looking for support from the White House to accelerate its plans for new nuclear, and said she had had some "very frank interesting conversations" with the President.

"There's a reason people don't embrace nuclear energy, a lot of reasons. One of them is it just takes too long and the barriers are in Washington," she said, with projects needing to go through "a decade of regulatory bureaucracy and red tape".

"With financial planning and hopeful support we can move as fast as possible both affordably and safely," she added.

Although the three so-called upstate plants have continued to operate, one New York nuclear power plant Indian Point - closed in 2021 after the state opposed Entergy's application to renew the operating licences for the plant which was located only 24 miles (39 kilometres) from New York City. Hochul said she "understood" some anxieties of people living near that plant - "but let's be honest: in doing that we turned off one quarter of New York City's power and it was almost all clean energy and overnight without an alternative". The state had been forced to turn to fossil fuels and as a result, "greenhouse emissions are up in downstate New York", she said.

"We cannot have trade-offs like that and this is not your grandparents' nuclear reactor: you're not going to see this in a movie starring Jane Fonda," she said, referencing 1979 film The China Syndrome, a thriller based on a fictitious meltdown at a nuclear power plant. "The new plant will be a model of 21st century nuclear design with safety at the forefront."

The State of New York is supporting Constellation Energy as it pursues the early site permitting process for a new project at its Nine Mile Point Clean Energy Center.

Constellation's EVP Chief Legal and Policy Officer David Dardis said Hochul's announcement "highlights the essential role of nuclear power in delivering clean, reliable electricity to New Yorkers while supporting long-term grid stability and affordability".

"It is yet another recognition of nuclear energy’s critical role in achieving the nation’s leading clean energy goals. We look forward to working with the Governor and state leaders to ensure nuclear energy continues to power economic growth and a clean, affordable and reliable energy future for New York," Darvis said.