AB 309

This bill requires a public utility that uses dry cask storage to store spent fuel

from a nuclear power plant to make annual payments to the city, village, or town

(municipality), and to the county, in which the spent fuel is stored. As defined under

current law, a "nuclear power plant" is a nuclear-fired electric generating facility

with a nominal operating capacity of 100 megawatts or more. Dry cask storage is a

method of storage that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows a

nuclear power plant to use after the plant reaches its capacity for on-site storage in

water pools. The bill requires a public utility to pay a municipality $250,000 for each

year or portion of the year the public utility uses dry cask storage to store spent fuel

in the municipality. Also, the public utility must pay a county $150,000 for each year

or portion of a year that the public utility uses dry cask storage to store spent fuel

in the county.

In addition, a public utility must pay a municipality $40,000 for each dry cask

for each year or portion of a year that spent fuel is stored in a dry cask in the

municipality. Finally, the bill requires the Public Service Commission to promulgate

rules implementing the bill's requirements and adjusting the payment amounts

described above every five years to account for inflation.