Yes vote will mean jobs, power, and economic relief
– By April Murelio –
Idaho's Elmore County Commission is scheduled to vote June 15th on AEHI's rezone request for the state's first commercial nuclear plant and the first in the western US in more than 25 years.
AEHI is the only publicly traded company proposing a deregulated nuclear plant west of the Rocky Mountains. According to an independent study, this plant will create approximately 5,000 jobs and over $2.6 billion GDP in Idaho during construction. Also, it will have ~500 full time plant jobs during operations at ~$80,000 per year over 2 times the average wage in Elmore County and another 1,000 high paying support jobs in the community during operation, not to mention the dramatic increase in infrastructure funding. This plant will allow Idaho which has not built a base load plant since the 60's to attract new industry and address the region's power short according to the EIA. Several large employers have bypassed the state primarily due to lack of electricity in the past few years. Idaho's governor and key congressional leaders have indicated support for AEHI's advanced nuclear plant, the Idaho Energy Complex.
"While the company is optimistic about the results due to strong public support and that the rezone request can clearly be approved specifically for one purpose as allowed by state law," CEO Don Gillispie says that, "the company has a responsibility to its investors and cannot leave this matter to local politics alone. If denied, we believe that we have a strong legal case for appeal and the option to place the rezone on the county ballot this fall as well. Unfortunately, today most industrial site rezone requests must be contested to gain approval. The company has alternate sites in Utah and Colorado."
In developing the rezone application, the company concluded Elmore County needs low cost electricity to sustain agriculture, attract new business, create stable jobs; and that rezoning AEHI's land would serve the best interests of Elmore County, Idaho and the western U.S.