Electric Utility Charges for Nuclear Power

Question A: Charges paid by customers of electric utilities to compensate electric generating facilities fueled by nuclear power are practically a transfer of income from a large number of households to a small number of investors and workers.

Question B: The economic benefits of charges paid by customers of electric utilities to compensate electric generating facilities fueled by nuclear power outweigh the economic costs.

Question A: Charges paid by customers of electric utilities to compensate electric generating facilities fueled by nuclear power are practically a transfer of income from a large number of households to a small number of investors and workers.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Agree	7	There are also two other places the resources go. Some benefits go to the world due to reducing carbon emissions. Some of the revenues are a deadweight loss due to the lower productivity of nuclear power.
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Uncertain	9
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Disagree	10	This statement is excluding the large positive spillover to all citizens from our continued use of nuclear power vs. coal/gas. I believe future citizens would rather have our nuclear energy waste (safely stored) then our greenhouse gas emissions.
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Agree	9
Hasan Faruq	Xavier University	Uncertain	8
Robert Gitter	Ohio Wesleyan University	Strongly Agree	9	In business if you take a risk you might fail. The only mitigating circumstance is that the companies have their prices and profits regulated.
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Uncertain	6	It depends on the extent to which the customers have other options. Are they revealing preferences for nuclear power or not?
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Disagree	7
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Agree	8	While I agree with the statement, the fixed costs to bring new electric generating facilities onto the grid need to be considered if nuclear power plants are to be replaced.
Fadhel Kaboub	Denison University	Strongly Agree	10	in the case of HB6, we are looking at corporate theft and abuse of power by a handful of corrupt public officials. And to add insult to injury, this is done to support a dying industry struggling to compete with renewable energy job creators.
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Agree	7	That's true but not necessarily bad. Buyers should pay the full cost of the electricity. If the biggest cost of a nuclear power plant is the fixed cost, it is wise to add a surcharge to cover the fixed cost.
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Agree	8
Mingming Pan	Wright State University	No Opinion	5
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Uncertain	3
Lewis Sage	Baldwin Wallace University	Agree	10	This reflects the structure of any market with limited ownership and a large customer base.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Agree	9	There are legitimate reasons to subsidize certain types of renewable energy. This is not one of them.
Melissa Thomasson	Miami University	Disagree	7	This can almost be said about any good or service. Are you getting at fixed v MC cost?
Thomas Traynor	Wright State University	No Opinion	5	The question lacks information sufficient for me to respond. What is the basis of the charges?
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Agree	3
Mark Votruba	Case Western Reserve University	Agree	10	Beyond the amount minimally needed to ensure those nuclear-powered generators stay in production, every dollar beyond that is pure transfer.
Andy Welki	John Carroll University	Uncertain	5	I have not invested much time in this issue.
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Agree	6
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Disagree	7	I'm not very informed on this topic.

Question B: The economic benefits of charges paid by customers of electric utilities to compensate electric generating facilities fueled by nuclear power outweigh the economic costs.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Uncertain	9	I would hope that the benefits of reducing global warming would outweigh the cost, but not if an alternative expenditure would achieve it more cheaply nor if the money just increases profits without increasing production of carbon-free electricity.
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Uncertain	9
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Agree	7	I'm not confident yet that all nuclear power will be replaced with renewables. Natural gas is cheap now. Soon hopefully all future new energy is renewable as it continues to become cheaper. Reducing GHG emissions is highest priority; nuclear helps.
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Uncertain	10
Hasan Faruq	Xavier University	Uncertain	8
Robert Gitter	Ohio Wesleyan University	Uncertain	3	The question is not clear. Do you mean the regular price we pay for electricity? You might just want to clarify or omit my answer.
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Agree	3	Nuclear power reduces carbon emissions, which has large economic benefits (likely larger than the added charges). However, I know very little about the science and potential costs of nuclear power (e.g. nuclear waste or risk of meltdowns).
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Agree	7
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Uncertain	2	To what are we comparing the economic costs and benefits of nuclear power? coal? natural gas? solar? wind?
Fadhel Kaboub	Denison University	Strongly Disagree	10	The real costs are: not having cheap & reliable renewable energy, not having more green jobs locally, having high risks of accidents, leakages, or nuclear waste contamination, and not investing in the clean energy and storage of the future.
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Agree	8	As long as the total charges per kwh do not exceed the total cost per kwh of generating the electricity, buyers cannot complain.
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Disagree	8
Mingming Pan	Wright State University	No Opinion	5
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Uncertain	3
Lewis Sage	Baldwin Wallace University	No Opinion	10	The benefits of this transfer are unclear to me.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Strongly Disagree	9	Even without the public corruption surrounding HB6, the transfer of millions from consumers to energy producers in order to subsidize failing energy plants is not economically justified.
Melissa Thomasson	Miami University	No Opinion	10
Thomas Traynor	Wright State University	No Opinion	5	Again. I need more information to be able to answer this question.
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Uncertain	2
Mark Votruba	Case Western Reserve University	Uncertain	8
Andy Welki	John Carroll University	Disagree	5	As a general rule, if subsidized, it does not pass the market test of benefits outweigh costs.
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Disagree	6
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Agree	7