The recent Northwest Herald article regarding utility-driven electrification plans being filed was telling for the quote by our state’s electric vehicles coordinator Megha Lakhchaura who said, “So the job is basically figuring out how all of these pots of money work together.”

Noted were rebates to entice consumers to buy electric vehicles, as well as ComED and Ameren to adopt electrification plans for ratepayer-funded investment in incentives, education and infrastructure.

Missing in the article was any reference to increasing base load electrical capacity. Thankfully last year the Illinois legislature was able to keep the Byron and Dresden nuclear generating plants from closing prematurely. Without any of those pots of money going to new generating capacity, good luck.

My suggestion would be to invest in modern small modular reactor (SMR) technology. After all we the people have paid for the proven, reliable, cost efficient, safe, small modular reactor technology that has been used in the U.S. Nuclear Navy since 1954, with 5,400 reactor years of accident-free operations.

Since launching the USS Nautilus to the present, no civilian or military personnel on these ships has ever been harmed by radiation. It’s a pipe dream to think of adding 1 million electric vehicles to Illinois roads by 2030 with inefficient, unreliable, costly wind and solar.

Nicholas C. Kockler

Woodstock