But then, some natural gas producers convinced themselves that the subsidies nuclear plants had received were a travesty of justice. They demanded that American Petroleum Institute try to kill nuclear subsidies in Pennsylvania and Ohio. What the gas industry really wants is to make billions by killing nuclear plants, replacing their output, and finding ways to increase electricity prices later.
Just 17 American oil and natural gas firms received an astonishing $25 billion in “direct, one-time benefits from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” according to anExxonMobil got $5.9 billion, Phillips 66 got $2.7 billion in tax breaks, Chevron got $2 billion, but fracking companies benefited the most, with EOG Resources receiving $2.2 billion, Hess $1.37 billion, Apache $1.34 billion, Anadarko $1.2 billion, and Andeavor $1 billion.
One would be forgiven for thinking, after reading Kavulla, that without subsidies for nuclear plants, the provision of electricity would otherwise be happening in a free market. But is that really the case? Solar panels and wind turbines can’t reliably provide electricity for even 40 percent of the year much less nuclear’s 90 percent, and coal and natural gas can’t do so without polluting.
What do they really fear?