Sign the petition. Tell Maryland PSC: No Deal on EDF/Constellation merger
Dear Friends,
The Maryland Public Service Commission is considering whether it has jurisdiction over the proposed investment by Electricite de France (EdF) of $4.5 Billion to purchase just less than half of Constellation Energy's five existing nuclear reactors. The purpose of this investment was to thwart Warren Buffett's offer to buy Constellation for $4.7 billion, and thus to ensure that Constellation will continue headed on its current path to serve as the French government's vehicle to build new nuclear reactors in the U.S., including at Calvert Cliffs, MD. If this deal is approved, the French government will completely dominate Constellation Energy. EdF, 85% owned by the French government, is already the largest single shareholder in Constellation and this investment is nearly equal to the entire value of the company. The reactors EdF & Constellation (through their joint subsidiary UniStar Nuclear) want to build in the U.S. would be provided by the French firm Areva, which is also 85% owned by the French government. And the French government's export-import bank would be tapped to provide substantial financing for this project.
This project needs investigation by the Maryland PSC. Sign the petition here to encourage that investigation.
The PSC
says it will make its decision on whether to proceed by June 8--let's get the signatures of 1,000 Marylanders to them before then!
If this project moves ahead, and goes over budget (as nearly every reactor ever built has done; in the U.S. the average cost overrun has been 207% according to the Department of Energy), the resources of Constellation subsidiary Baltimore Gas & Electric could be threatened or diverted from providing electricity service for Marylanders to providing cash for a French government nuclear project.
In addition, the corporate track records of EdF and Areva are disturbing, including recent allegations of anti-competitive practices in
Europe, criminal indictments for spying on environmental activists, and actively discouraging clean wind energy construction in England
because it might interfere with their nuclear expansion plans. You can read a fact sheet on EdF and Areva here.
It is essential that the Maryland PSC fully investigate this transaction and, we believe, the PSC should say "No Deal" to EdF.
Please sign the petition to encourage the PSC do assert its authority and investigate the EdF/Constellation
proposal.
And please forward this message to your friends and colleagues, co-workers and classmates, and everyone you can. We CAN get more than
1,000 Marylanders to sign this petition if we all chip in! We also have paper copies of the petition you can distribute at meetings and
other gatherings. Just send a note to nirsnet@nirs.org and we'll send as many as you'd like. But we need to receive
the paper copies back by June 2nd.
Thanks for all you do,
Michael Mariotte
Nuclear Information and Resource Service, on behalf of the Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition
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