Limerick Nuclear Power Plant.
Credit: Exelon

New Jersey ratepayers will fork over $300 million annually over the next three years so that PSE&G can continue operating its nuclear reactors. The utility had threatened to shut them without the additional funding.

State regulators said it was critical to keep the nuclear energy industry afloat so residents did not have to rely as heavily on alternative energy sources with harmful emissions, such as natural gas.

“We’re here to save our jobs and continue our carbon-free energy,” said Theresa Widger, a PSE&G employee who works at the Salem nuclear plant.

Yet critics pointed to analyses done by state staffers and a hired consulting firm that both predicted  PSE&G could remain financially solvent without the ratepayer-funded infusion.

“Everybody who has taken a look at this is saying that they are, in fact, financially viable and they are, in fact, making money. By threatening to close, they put the commissioners in a terrible position,” said Stefanie Brand, the state’s ratepayer advocate.

In a statement, PSE&G praised the award and said it would save ratepayers money, […]