Illinois — home state of our new president-elect — is the most nuclear-reliant state in the nation, with 11 operating reactors. The Illinois communities of Oak Park, Berwyn, and Riverside are particularly reliant on nuclear power: it’s 75 percent of their juice, purchased from Commonwealth Edison, a local subsidiary of Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear utility.
So it is of some interest that each of those communities voted on a straightforward referendum on Tuesday. It went like this: "Shall our elected officials in Illinois take steps to phase out nuclear power in the state, replacing it with renewable sources such as wind and solar?"
The results? 68.0 percent Yes, 32.1 percent No.
(You can find the breakdown here.)
So do nuclear’s biggest customers prefer renewables? Kinda looks that way.
More on this from Harvey Wasserman.
