New York socialists issue letter against reliable energy source as demand soars 

Thirty-six New York Democratic officials, including all Democratic Socialists in the state’s Assembly or Senate, joined forces Thursday to oppose nuclear energy.

Writing to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, the group argued that nuclear power is the most expensive form of energy and that the state should instead focus its resources on “proven, affordable solutions like wind, solar, [and] storage.” Hochul’s nuclear policy master plan, which the lawmakers oppose, lists nuclear as central to ushering in reliable, affordable and carbon-free energy for the Empire State.

“Rather than devoting financial resources to environmentally destructive, expensive and slow-to-build nuclear schemes, we should be investing in proven, affordable solutions like wind, solar, storage, thermal energy, energy efficiency, demand response and any number of other technologies and policies that can meet our needs more quickly and at lower cost to ratepayers and taxpayers,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Democratic Socialists of America does not hold an official stance on nuclear power. Support for the technology has increased across party lines in recent years, at a time when America’s power demand is growing due to artificial intelligence, onshore manufacturing and electrification.

Nuclear serves as a baseload power source, meaning that it generates energy at a steady and reliable pace, while solar and wind are weather-dependent and require backup sources. Due to nuclear energy’s reliability, it is a cheaper energy resource over time than wind and solar, according to an analysis from Always on Energy Research.

Nuclear power supplied 21% of New York’s electricity in 2024, roughly matching hydropower, according to the New York Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s grid. Fossil-fuel plants, mostly gas-fired, supplied about 51%, while wind and solar together made up only about 5%.

The lawmakers also argued that the most recently constructed nuclear plants in America, Vogtle 3 and 4, were years behind schedule and significantly over budget. While the Georgia-based plants’ costs and challenges remain central in nuclear energy debates, supporters of nuclear energy note that the developers built first-of-their-kind technology in the United States.

DSA embraces the tenets of the Green New Deal, even as several Democrats who once threw their unbridled support behind it have since shied away from mentioning it, according to multiple reports. Notably, several polls in recent years have found that voters list climate change as one of the least important factors to them on the ballot.