The Value of Nuclear Energy in New Jersey
Meeting EPA Clean Power Plan Targets
Nuclear Energy in New Jersey
By the Numbers
EPA Targets for New Jersey
Under EPA’s mass-based
approach, New Jersey can
actually increase its CO2
emissions by 1.4 million
short tons.
Under EPA’s rate-based
approach, New Jersey
must reduce its CO2
emission rate by:
26%
NUCLEAR
PROVIDES
94%
1
OF THE STATE’S
CARBON-FREE
ELECTRICITY
1
Oyster Creek*
2 3
2 Hope Creek
3 Salem 1 & 2
How Nuclear Can Help New Jersey Exceed
Its Clean Energy Targets
If existing nuclear energy facilities stay online and New Jersey
invested in just one new 1,000 MW nuclear facility*, the state would
offset an additional 5.9 million short tons of CO2.
*Oyster Creek will be retired in 2019
Electricity Production in New Jersey
(2015 EIA Baseline)
Hydroelectric
Nuclear
New Jersey would then exceed EPA’s targets by 7.3 million short
tons. This clean energy would be eligible for credits under regional
greenhouse gas trading programs.
Wind
Coal
Natural Gas
NJ WOULD
HAVE
7.8M
Megawatt-hours of additional
carbon-free electricity
WHICH AVOIDS THE SAME
AMOUNT OF CO2 EMITTED BY
What Would Losing
Nuclear Energy Mean for
New Jersey?
Other
1,100,000
PASSENGER CARS
or about one
quarter of the passenger
cars in New Jersey
NJ WOULD
HAVE A
30M
Megawatt-hour shortfall of clean energy
The carbon-free electricity
WHICH IS THE POWER NEEDED FOR
shortfall New Jersey would face
2.2 MILLION HOMES – MORE THAN 60
in 2030 is significant if the state’s PERCENT OF THE HOMES IN THE STATE.
existing nuclear energy facilities
close prematurely. Oyster Creek
will close in 2019. Removing that
facility and three other reactors
from the state’s electricity mix
would result in a 30 million
megawatt-hour shortage of
carbon-free electricity.
0%
44%
0%
2%
50%
4%
Land Usage:
Comparing Energy Footprints
To provide the amount of carbon-free
electricity produced by a single nuclear facility,
New Jersey would have to build a solar farm
two and a half times the size of Newark or install
windmills two and a half miles deep along the
state’s entire coastline.
About the Data
This fact sheet uses EPA Clean Power Plan baselines to serve as a general guide to assess the impact of closing or building nuclear energy
facilities. Unless otherwise stated, it assumes that states use a “mass-based” approach that sets overall targets for a state’s carbon reduction.
This analysis relies on EPA’s 2012 baseline emissions data and EPA’s 2030 emissions goals. Shortages and surpluses are determined by
comparisons against 2012 baseline generation capacity. For more information, visit: www.CASEnergy.org/CleanPower.
*Hypothetical scenario at a typical nuclear plant size
Sources: Energy Information Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, US Census Bureau, Federal Highway Administration and Nuclear Energy Institute