Going nuclear

Good morning!

Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a bill into law Monday that directs the state to find out who wants to build nuclear generation with the aim of bringing 1,100 megawatts of new power to New Jersey.

The move comes as the state’s residential ratepayers struggle with their electric bills and lawmakers say they’re trying anything and everything to help. They say the mammoth energy demands of data centers are helping push energy costs up.

“This is how we build the future for our kids here in the state,” Sherrill said in Trenton. “This is how we don’t kick the can down the road and we make sure in 10 years we’re not still facing a power generation problem or an affordability crisis.”

The bill won unanimous approval from the Legislature, but there remain critics who say subsidies in the bill will eventually require ratepayers to foot the bill for nuclear power even though we’re years away from a new nuclear power plant and our energy situation could change dramatically by then.

That worry was top of mind for Rate Counsel Brian Lipman, whose office advocates on ratepayers’ behalf before the Board of Public Utilities.

“One of my biggest concerns is that the data center demand is a blip or a bubble, that somebody smarter than me is going to invent a chip that’s going to allow the data centers to use significantly less electricity and they won’t need all this electricity,” Lipman told Nikita Biryukov. “We’re signing on for 40 years whether it’s needed or not.”

Read more from Nikita.

Immigration: Sophie Nieto-Muñoz has a story today on New Jersey immigration courts, which one attorney told her have become a “deportation machine” as judges increasingly deny bond to immigrants seeking to remain free as they fight their removal from the U.S. She found judges declare that undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for a long time and have many ties to their communities are flight risks — but so are migrants who have only been here a short time. Lawrence K. Le Roy, an immigration attorney based in Newark, told Sophie the courts have become a “horror show.”

Courts: Via Mia Maldonado at sibling site the Oregon Capital Chronicle, New Jersey is one of 12 states suing to halt the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, arguing that the consolidation would lead to higher prices and worse quality. "New Jersey is the birthplace of the American film industry, and the state is now a burgeoning hub for film and television production. Given our state’s leadership in the film and television industry, we must protect our residents when corporate media monopolies threaten to upend the industry by raising prices and reducing content choices,” New Jersey Attorney General Jen Davenport said.

Food: The slow-moving nationwide nightmare that is the cycloporiasis outbreak continues. I’ve been reading the “what you need to know” stories about this, but all they seem to know is it comes from food so I guess not eating food is the best prevention??? A California infectious disease expert told Shandel Menezes at NBC 7 in San Diego that people should avoid fresh produce “even if you wash it with water and soap.” Emphasis mine because wtf.

Trump: A federal judge on Monday said President Trump acted in bad faith when he dropped his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and directed his administration to create a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Federal Judge Kathleen Williams of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said Trump, his sons Eric and Don Trump Jr., and their private Trump Organization used the presidency to “manipulate the judicial process to pursue benefits unavailable in litigation.” “No sitting President has ever sued federal agencies completely subject to his control for monetary benefits, or any benefits that inure to him, his family, and associates,” she wrote.

Weather: Oh, good, Len Melisurgo at NJ dot com says temperatures are expected to near 100 degrees tomorrow, with eight counties already under extreme heat watch.