00:00So there's two big announcements recently with your company, including with Meta and Microsoft.
00:06Here today, we're talking a lot about the private sector and investments, but also how the administration is playing a role.
00:13How do you see and what are you asking administration officials when you sit down with them for what you want in terms of building up nuclear capabilities?
00:20You know, the thing we need is regulatory certainty so that we know that when we start on a pathway where we're investing billions of dollars to bring on new megawatts, that we're going to be able to complete that work and get the necessary approvals timely.
00:36That's the only thing. The rest of it we could do with the private sector.
00:41We could attract the capital. We have the customers who are interested in working with us and we're doing wonderful projects.
00:48But we need to be able to get from the starting line to the finish line with clarity.
00:52Can we drill down on that just a little bit more? What specifically are you looking for? Which action?
00:57Because the administration talks a lot about its deregulation agenda.
01:01What are you specifically lobbying for that could get done perhaps in the quickest amount of time?
01:06Well, let me give you a couple examples of things that have already been done, because I think that's the best illustration.
01:11In PJM, this part of the American grid that we're in right now, we had a tremendous number of renewable projects that were in the queue to go in.
01:22But what we were missing is power plants that could operate when we need power during peak times.
01:29So the administration and Governor Shapiro was a big part of this.
01:35So this was bipartisan, created a pathway to more quickly bring on what we call dispatchable generation,
01:42simply power plants that operate when we tell them to operate, like nuclear plants, like gas-fired plants.
01:50As a result of that, the crane restart has been moved up a full year.
01:55That means we're going to bring over a billion dollars' worth of new energy to the market for families and businesses a year sooner.
02:04That's already happened.
02:05Are you concerned at all about a lower-price environment when you do have an administration that is looking to lower energy prices?
02:13Well, you know, I think we're going to do okay in this environment because it's growing, right?
02:20And so, but we do have to keep a good eye on the affordability of energy and the reliability of energy for American families.
02:30Can you give us a little bit more insight into how these deals with hyperscalers?
02:35Have they accelerated your commercial activities?
02:38Well, what we've been able to do with them is secure the future of plants.
02:44So, we have a big pathway for investments in things like extending the operating life of a plant or increasing the output of the plant.
02:52In order to make those billions of dollars in investment, you want to have a customer on the other end that gives you certainty that you're going to be able to recover the costs of the investment.
03:02So, that's where the hyperscalers have come in.
03:04And I think the greatest example of that is Crane, which had been shut down, restarting with the support of Microsoft.
03:13So, we're bringing enough power for effectively a million families onto the grid because a hyperscaler was supporting that project.
03:23We're doing that in Illinois as well with Meta at our Clinton facility.
03:28A couple years ago, that Clinton facility was scheduled for shutdown.
03:31Now, it's available to the American grid precisely because we have a customer that's willing to do that.
03:38And we're also adding new megawatts to the grid through these same agreements.
03:42So, it's a pretty exciting time.
03:44Is there any exclusivity when it comes to Meta and Microsoft that would prevent you from engaging with deals with other companies?
03:51No.
03:52Okay.
03:53So, you see a future expansion to other companies?
03:55I hope so, yes.
03:57I wanted to ask you, you named some of the states that you're working in.
04:00And I wanted to ask you specifically if you're interested in working in New York State because we actually heard from the governor a few weeks ago who says she wants to see one gigawatt of new nuclear, but she didn't really give us any additional details beyond that.
04:12Is that something that you're looking into?
04:14Yeah, we sure are.
04:15And we will participate in the process that's been created in New York.
04:19We think it makes the most sense to build new nuclear where there is existing nuclear, where communities have enjoyed the relationship with the plants for decades.
04:28So, we have a number of sites in New York.
04:31We have three sites.
04:32We think that's the right home for new nuclear.
04:35And we're going to participate in the process.
04:36And we hope to be successful.
04:38Just lastly, because I know you have to go, but I want to ask you about tariffs.
04:41Are you lobbying the administration at all for some sort of tariff carve-out when it comes to the energy sector?
04:47No.
04:48Do you have any concerns about some of the incoming tariffs?
04:52We're talking about copper, steel, that could impact some of the prices that you're paying in order to get the energy out?
04:59I think there is going to be an impact.
05:00But I think here's the other reality that we're dealing with.
05:03There's a lot of critical infrastructure that we need in the supply chain that should be on short here in America.
05:10We should have the ability to have big steel manufacturing, transformers, materials like copper developed domestically.
05:19That's important for the industry in the long term.
05:22There might be a bump along the way in terms of the prices to accomplish that.
05:27But the tariffs are an important mechanism for us to control as a nation critical infrastructure that, frankly, adds to our geopolitical and economic security.
05:37Well, just lastly, because you did bring up geopolitical, I'm wondering what your take is.
05:41We heard yesterday from President Trump a threat of 100% so-called secondary tariff on Russia for countries that would import Russian energy supplies.
05:50How are you looking at that when it comes to what that could mean ultimately for the global energy market?
05:56You know, I don't know the answer to that.
05:58I don't think we've studied the impact.
06:01We certainly hope for peace in the Ukraine.
06:05And again, I think we as a nation have to get beyond thinking about the immediate price impacts and look at the long term things we're trying to accomplish,
06:15whether it be through tariffs or through efforts to secure peace in the Ukraine by putting pressure on Russia.
06:22As a business, that's what Constellation cares about.
Be the first to comment