GE (GE) is telling the US government that nuclear power facilities are not going to be built fast enough to help the country with its energy crisis, unless the Fed put some incentives on the table. It is a bit unseemly for GE to be the bearer of this news since it makes a lot of money building reactor facilities.
"US government hopes that hundreds of nuclear power plants will be built to boost national energy supplies will be dashed unless the power industry is given strong financial incentives to switch away from fossil fuels," the FT quotes GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.
Wall St. would think Mr. Immelt, whose company is one of the great kingdoms within the capitalist system, would never call for government aid. With aid often comes regulation.
Immelt’s comments are self-serving, but they may be accurate. By some estimates, the US needs nearly 200 new nuclear facilities to generate electricity unless the economy wants to rely more on oil and gas to do the job.
Right message, wrong messenger.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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