Oklahoma Just Finished Its Nuclear Power Study. Now Comes the Hard Question

Oklahoma has finally wrapped up its study as to whether nuclear energy would be viable for the Sooner State.

If you remember back in September, nuclear was the hot topic of discussion for Oklahoma's power needs going forward. With so many proposed and now approved data centers slated for the Heartland, the power is going to have to come from somewhere.

Now, for all of its worries, nuclear has been a rock-solid power performer in the USA since the last big incident at Three Mile Island... I mean, there have been others, but on a much smaller scale over the years.

The biggest worry for the public is the fact that nuclear power is nuclear. That being said, Texas and Arkansas have been comfortably and safely on radioactive power for decades.

The long and short of that study.

• Oklahoma spent the past year studying whether nuclear power could work here, and the short answer is yes, it probably could. But that doesn’t mean a reactor is about to pop up anytime soon. The study basically says nuclear energy is possible in Oklahoma, but there are still big questions about cost, workforce, safety, and where a plant would even go. For now, it’s more of a “maybe someday” than an actual plan.

Those Okies who've been around the longest know this isn't Oklahoma's first attempt at nuclear power either. It was pushed back in the 1970s, but the protests and constant legal hoops sidelined the project indefinitely.

Through all of the studies and lobbying, it seems everyone who matters in this projection of power has forgotten the biggest question that needs to be asked.

We, the consumers of power in Oklahoma, can put together that nuclear power is steady, reliable, and clean... but will it be affordable?

That's the #1 question from the general public.

Oklahoma has sat idly by and watched the average electric bill across the state skyrocket into having to choose between food and air conditioning in the depths of summer. If the nuclear option means higher bills, I'd wager most Oklahomans would be against it.

Can you blame us? The additional charges on the average electric bill is usually twice as much as the actual electricity.

Since Oklahoma now allows power providers to subsidize "future projects" with new charges to be billed now in the present, this will be a hard-fought battle either way it goes.