Regulated utilities cannot take nuclear development risk with returns capped at 10%
Chris Colbert · The U.S. nuclear groundswell · May 9, 2025 · at 20:11
Chris Colbert, CEO of Elemental Power, explains why regulated utilities are structurally unsuited to finance early-stage nuclear plant development.
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“You know, what I hear from utilities now is what I heard from utilities back in the past, right, is that, you know, they fundamentally can't take development risk. And, you know, that's a, having done fossil plant development, I did that for 15 years of coal and gas plants, that's a business where you expect to make two or three times return on your investment on the development at FID, and that doesn't happen for utilities. They're stuck at 10%. Right? So they're taking three X risk for a 10% return. It just doesn't work out for them.”
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