- 2 days ago
On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered remarks about energy investments in Pennsylvania.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:01Good morning, good morning!
00:05Let's do it for our neck. Good morning, everybody!
00:12My name is Dave Marcheski, and I have the distinct honor of serving as the Community Relations Manager here for the Crane Clean Energy Center.
00:21And today, your MC.
00:23Are my former Unit 1 employees in the house, though?
00:26Let me hear you.
00:28Former Unit 1 employees, let me hear you.
00:33On behalf of those folks, as a former Unit 1 employee myself, let me just say, it feels so good to be back!
00:43Crane Unit 1 here is poised to deliver 835 megawatts of zero-carbon electricity, creating the opportunity and optimism in our community and across the Commonwealth.
00:53We're bringing back the jobs, we're bringing back the pride, and we're bringing back billions of dollars of investment right here in Central Pennsylvania!
01:02This moment here today, though, would not be possible without the vision, the partnership, the persistence, and we're joined today by several individuals on stage to help make this milestone a reality.
01:17First, please welcome a leader who has been a tireless advocate for a clean, reliable energy future, not just in words, but through bold action.
01:28Under his leadership, Constellation has grown immensely and remains steadfast.
01:33As our nation's producer, our largest producer of carbon-free energy, please welcome Constellation President and CEO, Joe Dominguez!
01:42Enterprise!
01:43President and CEO, Joe Dominguez!
01:44Thank you for joining us!
01:45President and CEO, Joe Dominguez!
01:46President and CEO, Joe Dominguez!
01:47Paul Dominguez!
01:52.
01:53O'Brien!
01:54.
01:55This is incredible, incredible moment!
01:56I can't believe it!
01:59Just to bring this plant back, the comeback of this plant, the comeback of the industry.
02:04It's just kind of amazing!
02:05I look at all the cameras in the back and everybody's here to see this moment that has galvanized people who
02:10galvanized people across the country.
02:13Environmental groups that at one time opposed nuclear,
02:17supporting it.
02:18Labor, bipartisan politicians,
02:21where do you see agreement across the board?
02:24You see agreement across the board on nuclear.
02:27Labor, just amazing.
02:30The largest company in the world coming here
02:34and wanting to make such a huge investment
02:38in our community to power not only this great technology
02:41but the technologies of the future.
02:43And two years from now, if we knew,
02:47and we're going to start putting pressure on PJM, OK?
02:50But when PJM gets this thing interconnected,
02:53we're going to be ready.
02:54And it's going to be ready for days like today,
02:57days that'll approach 100 degrees out there.
03:00And we know it'll be ready for days that approach negative 50
03:04degrees out there.
03:05365 days a year for millions of families.
03:10And we know you just have to watch the grid
03:11for the last couple of days to know it couldn't come
03:16at a better moment.
03:19We made a mistake in shutting down this plant.
03:22But we're not here to dwell on that mistake.
03:24We're here to look to the future.
03:27And I looked at that video.
03:29And Casey, where are you?
03:31I looked at you and I saw your eyes well up with tears
03:35when you saw your dad.
03:37Mine did too.
03:38And my heart was filled with joy that we're able to bring this
03:44plant back and name it in honor of our hero, Chris Crane.
03:49You know, a couple of weeks ago, I was with leaders in the company,
03:54young leaders who were doing a project to try to understand
03:59what leadership looked like.
04:00And they had one fundamental question they asked me at the outset.
04:05They said, look, are leaders born or are they made?
04:10And I said that they're, well, it's both, right?
04:13But anybody can make themselves into a good leader just as they can
04:18make themselves into a good teammate.
04:19And we see examples of that all the time.
04:22But once in a while, I had to acknowledge that once in a while,
04:26you see a person who just seems to be born for a moment and a task in life.
04:34And if you have that privilege, that rare, rare privilege to work with that
04:39person in that moment in time, you never forget it.
04:43It leaves an indelible mark on you for the rest of your life.
04:46It changes the very way in which you lead and the honor of leadership.
04:54Chris Crane was one of those people.
04:57I look at the audience and I could see dozens,
05:00hundred people who were personally touched by Chris Crane,
05:05every leader in our organization.
05:07And if we were to look out at the nuclear and energy industry as a whole,
05:13we would see thousands more that were touched by his leadership.
05:18And by being touched, I mean mentored, I mean loved.
05:21And I also mean getting your butt kicked every now and again,
05:24because we all know that Chris, Chris didn't lead in halves.
05:29He went after it.
05:31And so we wanted to honor him.
05:34But it wasn't an easy thing, because if you knew one thing about Chris,
05:38and I was talking to Jillian and Casey about this today, he hated to receive
05:43any kind of award or recognition, absolutely despised it.
05:47Don't approach him with it.
05:48You get thrown out of his office.
05:50And in the last five years of his career, as you could well imagine,
05:55given the mark that he had on the industry,
05:58people had come to him to give him all sorts of awards because of his position
06:02because of his contribution, and they were all met with a resounding no.
06:07So when Bob Wallace and I first started talking about naming the plant after Chris,
06:14you could imagine it was a delicate conversation that we expected to have
06:20with Jillian and Casey to seek their permission for us to be allowed to do this.
06:26But, you know, the more we thought about it, we thought this wasn't an award.
06:31It wasn't an honorarium, it wasn't, it was a tribute.
06:36And the Latin word for, or tribute has origins in Latin,
06:42and it derives from a payment or a repayment to a prominent person,
06:49a person of honor for something that was given that was spectacular.
06:55And Chris, as you look down on us today and you observe what we're doing,
07:04I know you're grumbling a bit,
07:08but know that this is a repayment with our love for everything that you gave to us,
07:18and a statement that you never will be forgotten.
07:22God bless you, Chris.
07:33Jillian and Casey, thank you for helping us to make this happen.
07:37Let me close this part of the presentation with kind of a long list of thanks for a lot of other people who were involved.
07:47I want to thank Dan Eggers and Brian Hanson for leading this initiative from an executive standpoint.
07:54I want to especially thank the 200 folks who are with us today and are rebuilding this plant even as we speak.
08:03Brian told me where our hires, our permanent hires are already over 400 people and we're still a couple of years away.
08:11So awesome.
08:12I know many of you, I know many of you left and wanted so desperately to come home to Pennsylvania.
08:21And this is great.
08:22You come back to a place you loved and where you made such a profound contribution.
08:28That is incredible.
08:29A special thanks to Clint Sixx and Trevor Orth for leading this in your own way with your grit.
08:39Our board members, Bob Lawless, Eileen Patterson, Eve DeBalman, representatives here of the board,
08:46thank you for your confidence in me and our management team to give us the 1.6 billion and to only ask,
08:52are we doing the right thing for America?
08:54Thank you to you guys.
08:59Before anybody knew anything about this effort, I had to have one meeting and it was a critical meeting and I didn't know how it would go.
09:09I had an opportunity to sit down with Governor Shapiro in a secret office in a law firm in Philadelphia to share with him our ambition to restart the plan.
09:23And as you can imagine, it had a lot of tentacles to it that we didn't fully understand.
09:30And I expected to leave the meeting without an answer, with a, hey, I'll get back to you at some point in time in the future and goodness knows when that would happen.
09:42But if you know anything about Governor Shapiro, he doesn't delay till tomorrow what could be done today.
09:51And I didn't leave the meeting with ambiguity.
09:53I left the meeting with incredible support and that continues to this day.
09:58Governor, thank you so much.
09:59You, you are an amazing and amazing leader.
10:12I want to thank Representative Tom Mahaffey and Senator Patty Kim for your incredible support in Harrisburg.
10:19This has gone on for years.
10:21And, of course, I've mentioned Microsoft before.
10:26Bobby Hollis will come up here.
10:28Bobby and his team at Microsoft were incredibly enthusiastic about this project from the second they heard about it.
10:35And it's not only that they are taking energy from the plan.
10:40They're contributing to the plan.
10:42You know, when we restart this plan, we're going to have some of the cutting edge AI technologies embedded in the plan
10:50so that we could take nuclear operations to a place never before seen.
10:56We are going to restart the most advanced nuclear plant in America when this gets started.
11:09Bob Blair and all the tradespeople are making this happen at a busy time for all of you.
11:14Thank you, thank you, thank you for the work you're doing and will continue to do.
11:19Maria and this great team at Jeff Places here from IMPO, Maria from NEI.
11:25Without your Washington support, it couldn't happen.
11:28And I know I put the onus on Manu at PJM to get this thing interconnected.
11:36And I hate to start with a challenge, but I should start here.
11:41They were incredible partners from the beginning explaining how this could happen.
11:45And on days like today, two years from now, we'll have this plan to cover the needs of millions of American families at the time we need it.
11:54And believe me, it couldn't come at a better time.
11:57And finally, thank you to all of the community members from the broader community here at Crane.
12:02Thank you for your confidence.
12:05We're going to repay that confidence with dedication, with hard work, with ingenuity, with jobs, with taxes,
12:13and ultimately with great clean energy that you could count on 365 days a year.
12:19Thank you, thank you to everybody for coming.
12:22Let's go.
12:34Now, it is my privilege to introduce someone whose leadership has placed Pennsylvania at the forefront of innovation, infrastructure, and clean energy.
12:43He clearly understands the role clean energy plays in delivering jobs and billions of dollars in economic development.
12:50And under his leadership, the keystone is leading the way.
12:53Please welcome our 40th governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro!
13:02Thank you, everybody.
13:06Good morning.
13:08It's a good day.
13:09Hey, Dave, thank you very, very much.
13:12And Joe, thank you for hosting us here today.
13:15This is a big day for Pennsylvania.
13:18This is a big day for energy in Pennsylvania.
13:23And it is a privilege to join you today to celebrate the restart of Unit 1 here at the Crane Clean Energy Center.
13:34This is a great day.
13:36You know, it's a—I appreciated very much the kind words that Joe Dominguez shared a moment ago about the work we did together.
13:53I view governance, I view progress as a team game.
13:58It's a team sport.
13:59Government alone can't solve problems.
14:01Neither can the private sector.
14:03But when we work together, when we believe in one another, when we have a vision that we can look toward together and make things happen, that is how you get stuff done.
14:18That is how you make progress.
14:20That is how you create jobs and economic opportunity.
14:24And your CEO and my friend Joe Dominguez had the vision, had the belief, had the knowledge, had the wherewithal, and had the partnerships to get this done.
14:36You are well-led, and you are blessed to have a great leader like Joe Dominguez.
14:41Joe, thank you very, very much.
14:47Joe and I bonded over many things, especially the fact that Pennsylvania has a legacy of energy leadership that we both know stretches back centuries.
14:59From Ben Franklin's Kite to the coal mines and oil fields of western Pennsylvania that fueled our industrial revolution.
15:09To the incredibly advanced nuclear power plants like this one that provided power to Pennsylvania's homes and businesses and communities for 45 years before it was decommissioned back in 2019.
15:25Pennsylvania's energy industry has created, not good, but great jobs in our commonwealth.
15:33It has lifted people up out of poverty.
15:36It's powered the middle class.
15:38And it's led to the creation, Rob Baer, of the American labor movement.
15:44Energy did that, and we're going to continue that progress in our commonwealth.
15:49Energy has played an important role in our history.
15:57When fascism threatened freedom overseas, it was our commonwealth, Pennsylvania, that produced the energy that made the arsenal of democracy the most powerful manufacturing base in the world.
16:12And today, Pennsylvania is proudly the second largest energy exporter in the entire country and one of the most important energy producers in the world.
16:24This not only gives us power, this gives us opportunity.
16:29You all know me.
16:30I'm competitive as hell.
16:32I'm not satisfied just focusing on our history or on our legacy.
16:37I am focused like a laser beam on the future of Pennsylvania and the future runs through places right here like Cranes.
16:50So here in Pennsylvania, we are doubling down on that energy legacy by taking big, bold, decisive steps right now to build new sources of power.
17:04Back in the spring, and Joe is helpful on this, I announced my lightning plan, a six-part plan inspired by Ben Franklin's kite to increase energy generation, bring down energy costs, speed up permitting times, and grow our economy.
17:23The State House of Representatives, led by your representative, Tom Mahaffey, who is here, who sponsored part of that plan, has already advanced key pieces of our bipartisan legislation to put it into effect.
17:39That plan aligns with my focus of being an all of the above energy governor.
17:45Because I want to produce more energy here in Pennsylvania from every single source that we can from natural gas to solar to geothermal to nuclear.
17:56We currently have four nuclear power plants operating in our Commonwealth, producing nearly a third of all the electricity we need.
18:05Folks shouldn't sleep on nuclear.
18:08They should be aware of the important clean role it plays in our energy portfolio.
18:13I'm excited about how this power plant will reopen, bringing more energy onto the grid.
18:19And by creating more energy, we will create more opportunities for all Pennsylvanians.
18:26Unit 1, as you know, shut down back in 2019.
18:30Now, thanks to this incredible partnership between Constellation and Microsoft, we're coming back stronger than ever before.
18:39I hope you will note today the presence of Bobby Hollis from Microsoft.
18:45Microsoft isn't just some small ma and pa company.
18:48They are one of the most important companies, not just in the United States, but in the globe.
18:55They create transformational change.
18:58They help people be more efficient and more effective in their lives.
19:03They give us the tools in our pockets that literally help us get through our days to raise and educate our children,
19:12to making sure we have breakthroughs in health and medicine, to ensuring that our nuclear reactors run efficiently and safely.
19:21That's what Microsoft does.
19:23Bobby traveled all across the United States to be here with us today.
19:28That's a big damn deal.
19:30To Bobby and to the Microsoft team, we are grateful you are here.
19:34And we want you to be here a whole lot more in Pennsylvania.
19:38Now, when we get this place back up and running, it is going to be thanks to the skilled and capable hands of the Pennsylvania building trades,
19:55who are going to get us back up and running.
19:58And I want to say a special thanks to Rob Baer for his extraordinary advocacy and leadership.
20:05Rob Baer got knocked down 25 different times on this project, got up every time full of more piss and more vinegar,
20:12and he got it done.
20:14Rob, thank you for your leadership.
20:16Thanks to Rob.
20:21Thanks to Rob, thousands of our Pennsylvania building trades women and men, they're going back to work.
20:28And there's going to be pride in that work.
20:30They're going to put food on their table, and they're going to create energy opportunities for all Pennsylvanians in the process.
20:38I'm grateful to you, Rob, for your leadership and to all of the women and men that make up the Pennsylvania building trades.
20:44And when Rob and his team are done building, we're going to have at least 650 permanent jobs located right here in Dauphin County operating this plan.
20:55That's a big deal.
20:57That's a big deal.
20:59We're giving new life and new opportunity to this community.
21:05In fact, it warmed my heart when Joe was singling out some of the folks who were forced to leave five, six years ago
21:12and who now are able to come back to their beloved Pennsylvania to work at the place that means so much to them.
21:19So for all of you who left for a short period of time, welcome back.
21:23For all of you who had to find other work for a short period of time, welcome back to Central Pennsylvania.
21:29We love having you here. We're going to make sure you never have to leave again.
21:34This is going to be one of those places where the jobs get passed down from generation to generation,
21:39where fathers talk to their daughters about the work that they did, and their daughters pick up that mantle of energy leadership right here at Cranes.
21:48This is an exceptional opportunity, and this is a big deal.
21:52You know, our administration was proud to partner with Constellation and Microsoft and with PJM to be able to bring these jobs,
22:01this energy, and this opportunity back online as soon as possible.
22:06I want you to know that our team, led by Sam Robinson and Jacob Finkel,
22:11well, they reached out to PJM as soon as this project was announced to help get the interconnection request for Cranes approved as quickly as possible.
22:21And I got to say, Banu, with you here, the leader of PJM, you all have stepped up in a really, really big way,
22:29creating a new fast track initiative that included Cranes as the largest single source approved under their new program.
22:38And listen, I bust PJM's chops a lot. They deserve a heck of a lot of credit here.
22:45They're going to beat the timeline that Constellation initially set up and get us up and running.
22:50And Manu and PJM are the reason why. Thank you for your leadership.
23:00Listen, right now, if you look at the energy and technology landscape in our Commonwealth,
23:05you will see there is a ton of excitement and a whole lot of forward momentum.
23:10Again, as I said, Microsoft is here. That is a heck of a signal of the optimism people feel about Pennsylvania.
23:18It is evident here in South Central Pennsylvania, where Microsoft is working with Constellation to get this plant back up and running.
23:25It's also evident elsewhere in Luzerne County, where I was just a couple of weeks ago to announce that Amazon is making the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania's history,
23:38an initial investment of 20 billion dollars, 20 billion dollars.
23:44That 20 billion dollars is going to help us build state of the art data centers here in our Commonwealth.
23:51And there's a reason why they're able to do that because of our abundance of energy.
23:57Energy is the key to a future of opportunity, a future of opportunity here in Dauphin County and across this great Commonwealth.
24:07Look, I want to close with this Pennsylvania.
24:10Well, Pennsylvania is on the rise.
24:14We are seeing real opportunity and it's because we have worked hard in our Commonwealth to make us competitive again.
24:22We are moving at the speed of business.
24:25We have slashed permitting times going from the worst states in the nation to work on for permitting to among the national leaders on permitting.
24:35We've cut taxes.
24:36We've cut taxes.
24:37Yeah, I'm a Democratic governor bragging about how we've cut taxes here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
24:42And we've done that on a bipartisan basis.
24:44We're embracing our role as a dominant energy exporter moving fast to build even more power plants and create more jobs.
24:57We've built a team at the top that embraces innovation, understands business and wants to bring real prosperity back to our communities.
25:06From coal and steel to server farms and fiber optic cables, Pennsylvania is now positioned to power our future.
25:15A future powered by Pennsylvania energy, a future built by Pennsylvania's trained workers, a future where every single Pennsylvania has the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.
25:32So today, let's celebrate and tomorrow, let's get to work.
25:37Thank you all very, very much.
25:41Thank you, Governor.
25:51And as the Governor just mentioned, we are thrilled to be joined by a representative from one of the most influential technology companies in the world.
26:01Microsoft's commitment to sustainability and their partnership in purchasing clean energy from this very site is helping power both data and progress.
26:10Please join me in welcoming Vice President of Energy Cloud Operations and Innovation at Microsoft, Bobby Hollins.
26:18If you don't see that I have some very, very hard acts to follow right now.
26:32So really, really want to give a huge shout out to Governor Shapiro and Joe Dominguez for the incredible words that they really set at a great stage for us to have a conversation about the importance of this facility and the work that's being done here and really the contributions of everyone on this stage to make this happen.
26:54But even more importantly, the folks out there like the work that you are doing is just incredible being able to come here and know that this plan is moving faster than we ever dreamed possible.
27:06So the opportunity that we saw when we were looking for things that could really match our growth.
27:13I think you heard we're a little bit bigger than a mom and pop.
27:16So we're doing some really important things through all sectors of the economy with AI.
27:22Some of this, I think you're probably experiencing it in all parts of your work environment.
27:28And we really see it happening in energy.
27:30And I've heard great stories from the governor today.
27:33I've heard great stories from Constellation.
27:35It's helping to make things like this not only come back to life, but do it in a way that turns it into a state of the art facility that really is a model for ways that we can bring nuclear back to the grid and even stand new nuclear up,
27:51which is almost unheard of even as recently as three years ago.
27:55So on behalf of Microsoft, I really want to make sure that all of you know the work you're doing is helping us to do all of the work that we're trying to do with every single company and every single person around the world.
28:09Helping to make their lives easier, find those opportunities that really can make life much, much more simple and find opportunities that we can all do the things that we enjoy more.
28:21We think that our technology will help you do that.
28:25So getting back into kind of some of the initial remarks of why we came here and had this initial discussion with the Constellation team, with Joe and his team.
28:34We really, when we were looking at the entire portfolio and what the entire landscape looked like, we knew things were changing.
28:43So we knew that we had to look at everything very, very differently.
28:48But we also know at Microsoft, we remain steadfastly committed to finding a path for our energy sources, even with the bigger growth, whether it's from AI or something else.
29:00We know that it has to be first reliable as we all experience days like this.
29:06We know that we need those light switches to come on.
29:09But more importantly, those thermostats to work when we are coming home from 100 degree temperature outside.
29:16We also need to make sure that it's sustainable.
29:20So from our standpoint, that is finding carbon free energy that matches up to our needs as we grow.
29:27So really, when we talk about growth, we talk about growing the energy sector as well.
29:32And I think you heard the governor do a much better job than I could.
29:35When we talk about energy, energy is the lifeblood of the economy.
29:40So how do you bring energy back?
29:42But for us, how do we still do that sustainably?
29:44How do we find those carbon free options?
29:46And when we looked at what we were doing from an AI standpoint, we also wanted to make sure that we were finding energy opportunities that would support our infrastructure that would be beneficial to the communities that they are growing in.
29:59So as we look at the entire growth portfolio of AI, of data centers, and of course, we're not the only growing pieces of the energy infrastructure.
30:10There are lots of pieces growing.
30:11We have electric vehicles.
30:13We have cooling days that are becoming much more frequent.
30:16We knew that the growth of AI and the infrastructure required to support that revolutionary new technology, we knew we had to think very differently about finding opportunities for carbon free energy that could scale as quickly as we could.
30:32And scaling, growing fast, those are not usually things that are part of a conversation for nuclear energy.
30:40Those are almost viewed as very much the antithesis and opposites of the conversation.
30:45So we said, how do we approach this differently?
30:49Carbon free electricity has to be more than just solar and wind energy and it very much is very, is a much broader portfolio than that for us.
30:58So we looked at it and we said, nuclear has to have a place in that conversation.
31:03Microsoft was at the forefront of really leading to make sure that our environmental stakeholders, that our partners within our company, that the entire ecosystem of energy conversations recognize nuclear has a place when you're talking about carbon free energy and carbon free electricity.
31:23So we really said, how do we find a place where we can move that very, very fast?
31:30Where are those, those really once in a lifetime opportunities that we can bring back nuclear power or stand up nuclear power that can actually match the growth of our AI infrastructure?
31:42And that's what led us here to the crane clean energy center.
31:46It's a unique opportunity where we can bring together a supportive community, a supportive state and the skilled workforce that is the absolute best kept secret ingredient for what's going to make this plant happen faster as we're already seeing and to do it safely and reliably.
32:06So all of you folks and the contributions that you're making here, it does not go unnoticed.
32:12We know that everything you're doing is what's making it happen so that we actually can stand up new nuclear energy contributing to the PJM grid in the same timeline that we're bringing data centers that actually are supporting our AI infrastructure.
32:28So that folks around the world are able to rely on Microsoft technology and integrate that into their lives every day.
32:37So thank you all.
32:44I also just want to reinforce, I've said it over and over again, the incredible facility here is only able to be reborn from this invaluable local workforce.
32:55The skilled labor, the folks that live here, the folks that are coming back here, this is impressive to see.
33:01And the people that live here and that know that this particular facility and this technology can be done safely, reliably and contribute to the growth of the economy here in Pennsylvania.
33:15That's really incredible to see. And we thank you all for doing it.
33:19And we really want to thank you for doing it as quickly as you have, because as we've seen, the growth of AI is happening even faster than we expected.
33:27And what's really been awesome has been the fact that we also can look to our partners here at Constellation and the state of Pennsylvania and actually see a nuclear facility that's growing faster as well.
33:40So thank you all for moving the ball as fast as you have to make everything come together for Governor Shapiro's leadership to really make sure that Pennsylvania and energy are synonymous now.
33:53There's more than one state. Used to be that you'd only hear one state in a conversation about energy.
33:57You really are, as we talk about nuclear, hearing Pennsylvania in an energy leadership position where we think it belongs and we think there's tremendous opportunities still.
34:07One other thing that we really want to reinforce is we at Microsoft are really proud to maintain the highest degree of integrity around how and where we locate those new electricity resources.
34:21And Crane has met that high bar. We are able to bring back clean, carbon-free electricity to the PJM grid, delivering it to the grid so that it's actually making days like this more sufferable for all of us,
34:36so that we're able to make sure that the support of baseload energy resources are actually valued for what they provide.
34:45We know that Crane Clean Energy Center is going to be a huge asset and value, not just to Microsoft and our portfolio and the infrastructure that we require, but to this entire state.
34:57And once again, just in closing, I can't thank this team, the Constellation team, the governor and his leadership, and this entire community for coming together and making this happen and making this reality even more beneficial for this entire community and this entire planet, candidly.
35:15We know that the issues we're encountering from the need to get to decarbonization quicker is a global issue.
35:24And this community in central Pennsylvania is helping to solve that for all of us.
35:29Thank you all. And I look forward to coming back here when this thing is actually live and powering those air conditioners. Thank you.
35:44Keep it going, Mike. Keep it going.
35:46How's everybody doing? All right? It's getting a little hot.
35:49Let me hear a whoop-whoop.
35:51One more time. Let me hear a whoop-whoop.
35:53Are you still with me? All right.
35:55Now we welcome the head of the organization responsible for ensuring reliable power across 13 states and the District of Columbia.
36:03As the operator of the Regional Grid, PJM, understands how vital this restart is, not only for grid reliability, but for a resilient, resource-integrated future.
36:14Please welcome President and CEO of PJM Interconnection, Mario Estara!
36:20All right. Good morning, folks. I'm going to start by saying, if you have a bottle of water, you did this earlier, please hydrate right now.
36:33It is really hot. Safety is important. If you're in the sun and you can come in, come in.
36:39Look, I am responsible for running PJM. What is PJM?
36:43We manage the power grid from Chicago to the New Jersey shore. Serve one in five people in this country.
36:51And I really have two messages. That's it. Message number one, the work that you're doing to bring this power plant back is really important.
37:00It really matters. And I'll talk about that in a second.
37:03Number two, thank you. Thank you to everyone that is doing this work. That's it.
37:08So let me talk a little bit about why this is important.
37:13You know, we manage the grid, I said, for one in five Americans. But let me start right here.
37:17This is important for this community. And I just wanted to acknowledge the community leaders in the front for the work that you do and for your partnership with this plant.
37:26Thank you. This plant is important for this community. This plant is important for this state. It is important for our region. And it's important for our country.
37:36You know, the governor talked about the future, right? The future of energy. Well, the future is now.
37:42I have spent a lot of time in PJM's control room over the last few days, as you can imagine, given how hot it is.
37:49And two days ago, we set an all-time peak observed in our control room. Ever. Okay?
37:57If I look at last year's peak to this year's peak, it grew about 9 gigawatts. Now, let me put that in context. That is 11 crane clean energy centers from last year's peak to this year's peak.
38:12And what we're talking about here is not hypothetical. Our country needs this power. All of our citizens need this power just to keep their lights on, to stay warm, to stay cool.
38:25To end the future of our country strategically. Bobby talked about AI. I'll talk about that for a second. November 2022 was when ChatGPT was released into the world. November 2022.
38:41It is a toddler. It's two and a half years old. And it is solving problems that are at the level of PhD students.
38:49I can't imagine by 2030 what artificial intelligence will enable us to do. And strategically for our country, for our state, for our region, it is critical that we win that race.
39:04And the power that you produce here is critical to winning that race. That is one of the biggest constraints to the development and growth of this new technology is electricity.
39:16So the work that you're doing here to start this plant, it matters. It matters to this community. It matters to our country. And I'm here to say thank you for that.
39:26PJM understands the importance of bringing this project and other projects like it online quickly. And our engineers are back in the office working as hard as possible to accelerate that.
39:38And Governor, thank you for acknowledging that work. I really appreciate it. That's it. That's it. What you're doing matters. Thank you very much.
39:47All right. Now we have someone whose leadership has helped guide the nuclear energy industry through transformation and growth. She represents the voice of innovation, safety and progress across the nuclear sector.
40:08Today's milestone stands on the shoulders of industry's visionaries and represents a national resurgence of nuclear.
40:16Please welcome President and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Maria Korsnick.
40:23Well, thank you very much. Wow, it's hot out here. So please take a break and I'm going to try to cut my remarks short just to give you all a break.
40:39I just want to first say thank you. I came to TMI many years ago when I was the site vice president of Guinea. I came here as part of your off-site safety review committee.
40:50I also was here when I was part of the Constellation and Exelon team and I came here as part of your management review meetings.
40:58I know how well this plant operated and I know you're going to kick ass and bring it back.
41:05So, so proud of you for all the hard work that you're going to be doing. Happy that you're all here in the capacity that you are and you're going to bring more folks to your team.
41:20You're not only going to make this plant better, you're going to make this whole community better. And then it comes to what I do and I take your successes and I make them the success of the whole industry.
41:31And I can just tell you I came 10 years ago to the Nuclear Energy Institute and the narrative was about shutting down plants. And unfortunately, TMI was one of those plants.
41:41And I can tell you the narrative today is about extending the life, increasing the output, building new plants, and because of you, starting plants that have been shut down. Thank you.
41:54I congratulate Joe Dominguez. Thank you Joe for your vision to even make this happen.
42:06Congratulate Governor Shapiro for your leadership and that of your administration for having the leadership to make this happen.
42:14And for the Crane Clean Energy Center that's going to provide hundreds of good jobs here and even more in industries that will support you.
42:23You're going to be an economic engine for this whole community. And of course, thank you and congratulate Bobby from Microsoft.
42:30Bobby, you and I have been in several meetings with a variety of governors and others across the country, really selling this message about how powerful the commercial nuclear industry can be.
42:42We have a president that put four executive orders in place. He wants to quadruple the amount of nuclear that we have.
42:49He wants 10 large plants under construction by 2030. Very big, bold, audacious goals.
42:56We have never been at a time like we are right now. And thanks to some of the things you're doing, we are bringing nuclear back, not only here in the United States, but across the globe. Thank you very much.
43:08Representing the heart of the capital region, our next speaker has been a consistent champion for working families, community investment and forward thinking policy.
43:26Thank you, Dave. Just wanted to say welcome back. Consolation to the Senate District 15 and welcome Microsoft. We are so excited to have you here.
43:47All I know about Consolation is that they're good employers and they will continue to be good employers.
43:54I know that they are good community partners and will continue to be good community partners. And finally, they're great for our planet.
44:02As many of you know and from the central Pennsylvania PA trades stats, this consolation will create 3,400 new jobs, 600 direct jobs and 2,800 indirect jobs.
44:16And Rob said earlier, what's exciting is that we have a pipeline of young people who can see something, build something and point to it.
44:25My kids have no idea what I do. I wear a pantsuit. I go to the capital and we can't get the budget on time.
44:34These jobs matter. Consolation has been a great community partner.
44:38I know with the local London dairy fire company, with the local chamber for the local Dauphin, lower Dauphin school district, the veterans, the Girl Scouts, they are amazing.
44:48But Joe, just want to make sure that there's some old ladies at Royalton Borough Senior Center who would love to have a check as well.
44:55They miss your contributions.
44:59And then finally, this has just been, I feel very lucky to represent this area.
45:04Know that you have my full support and I will see you excel way beyond what is expected.
45:09Thank you very much.
45:11All right, we're closing out. Drink one more time.
45:19All right, finally we are joined by our tireless champion for this community.
45:24He's been instrumental in advocating for the workforce and ensuring that this restart brings lasting benefits to the people who live and work nearby.
45:33Please welcome State Representative Rob Mahaffey.
45:37Well, I think we're in the afternoon.
45:47So, welcome to the 106th district and the sweetest district on earth.
45:54Today, we're not in Hershey.
45:57That is a sweet place.
45:59But you know why today is sweet?
46:01Because you couldn't remove this smile on my face with a jackhammer.
46:06And I think the only other guy that has a bigger smile than me is Rob Baer.
46:17Coming here knowing that we are going to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center is something that makes me smile.
46:24Smile beyond smile beyond smiles.
46:27I'll tell you why.
46:29Five years ago, many of you guys were here when I gave my speech about I'm sorry that the General Assembly let you down and we had a closed Three Mile Island.
46:45It was a very sad day of my life and a sad day for many generations of workers and people who absolutely wanted to stay here in the 106th district and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
46:58Well, let me tell you what.
47:00That never stopped me.
47:02Ever.
47:03Ever.
47:04We knew that nuclear power is the future of this country, this Commonwealth, and this district.
47:12And I was not going to stop until somebody told me we were going to restart this plan.
47:19Yeah!
47:20It's hard to believe 50 years ago my dad was here working as a young man that gave a future to my family that made him what he is today.
47:39Now he's 82 and he talks to me about what it did for him, myself, my family.
47:47And he consistently talks about the nuclear power industry and how important it is in the 70s and now how important it is in 2025 and beyond.
47:59If we are going to accomplish anything in this country, in this Commonwealth, we need great people like you to run these plants.
48:10High quality skilled laborers from the Pennsylvania building trades.
48:14Those that are trained and trained for long periods of time and I know those that are operating these plants train forever and go through testing.
48:24And it is not easy.
48:26But you are doing a fabulous job.
48:28Thank you for everything that you do as the workers of this area and in this industry.
48:34We greatly appreciate what you do and keeping us safe.
48:39Patty's right.
48:41When Constellation left and this plant shut down, a lot was missed.
48:46Not just the energy of Pennsylvania, but the things that go along with that.
48:50Small businesses, donations, your time and effort that you volunteer, which is so greatly appreciated.
49:00That was all lost.
49:01A senior center shut down.
49:04Let's not just open this plant.
49:06Let's open business.
49:08Let's do that.
49:09The 106th district, and sorry about this, Gov, I'm going to use your line.
49:13We're getting shit done.
49:15That's what we're doing.
49:17We just opened a plant in Hershey.
49:22Unheard of.
49:23The investment from our business community is incredible.
49:26Incredible.
49:27And now Constellation and also Microsoft come together in a partnership unheard of to restart
49:36a plant that's in decommissioning.
49:38And here we are today talking about it.
49:40Not only talking about it, but going to open it here in the next two years.
49:44That is incredible.
49:45And that is something that I want to witness.
49:48I want to be here and I want to continue smiling as we continue to grow this industry, continue
49:55to do the right things in Pennsylvania, and continue to help the working men and women
50:00that are doing this great job in nuclear power.
50:03Thank you so much.
50:04I really appreciate it.
50:05We did it.
50:14We're here.
50:15I just want to say thank you to our guests.
50:18Thank you to the Crane family for joining us today.
50:20Thank you to the Governor and our distinguished speakers.
50:23Appreciate your time.
50:24As we had and heard our distinguished guests here today, I want you to take a moment and
50:29soak in this historic moment here today at the Crane Clean Energy Center.
50:34I want to say thank you for coming.
50:36Thank you for support as we make history together.
50:38And let's bring the energy.
50:39We'll see you in a couple of years.