MARKET TALK: US Nuclear Buildout Needs Policy Certainty -FPL

(Dow Jones) U.S. utilities need more certainty as to whether and when the U.S. will establish a cap on greenhouse-gas emissions and what the rules will look like before power companies can decisively move ahead to develop new nuclear power plants, says FPL Group Inc. (FPL) Chief Executive Lew Hay. FPL wants to build about 2,400 megawatts of new nuclear power generation in Florida, at an estimated cost of $16 billion to $18 billion. But it's hard to justify the high cost and roughly 10-year development and construction timeline unless returns are more certain, Hay says, speaking at the Wall Street Journal's Eco:nomics conference in Santa Barbara. "We need some certainty about the economics," Hay says. "Are we going to have a price on carbon and if so, what's it going to be?" ([e-mail])