The Legislature's interim Energy Development and Transmission committee is Proposing a thorough study of nuclear energy.
State Senator David Hogue (R-Minot) – the Senate Majority Leader – told the Legislative Management Committee there is increased interest in nuclear power, after it had been out of favor for years.
"It has become a dispatchable power source, that fell out of favor in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s," Hogue told Legislative Management. "But now, it is not argumentative to say there is a great renewed interest in it, not only to power these new data centers that are going to pop up everywhere, but to be part of the baseload solution."
Hogue said the private sector would be invited to be partners in the study. And he said in parts of North Dakota, the power demand is growing.
"One of our distribution co-ops in the northwestern part of the state said their baseload demand for electrical energy doubled in ten years," Hogue said. "It's projecting that in the next ten years, it's going to double again."
Hogue said nuclear has to be a part of the solution. But he told the Committee there are some hurdles.
"We're one of the few states that does not currently authorize nuclear development," Hogue said. "So one of the other provisions in the bill draft is to study why that is, and whether we should remove that impediment to developing nuclear energy in the state of North Dakota."
The Management Committee unanimously approved the interim bill draft for introduction.
