Impossible to answer as you'd need a detailed (i.e. numbers) break down of the entire economy to decide how much money they had coming in and how much went out. However obvious problems include (a) using ex-cons as employees ! (b) that keeping your workforce (economically) trapped in your own town in suspiciously like slavery/indentured servant - likely illegal and (c) a corporation acting like a government will attract nasty army based attention from real governments but won't have the capability to defend itself.

Are the corporate citizens the only customers for the corporation?

Fission, fusion or hybrid? Most importantly is there any energy deficit and nasty byproducts? If you solve all that money is not a problem, u just worry on how to spend it...

The chances of the unemployed and disenfranchised having the expertise, planning knowledge and legal knowledge to navigate the minefield of construction is highly unlikely. Power plants, especially nuclear are bogged down by stringent safety measure and regulations. Furthermore, your untrained employees are likely to mess up and work slower than trained professionals in the field, make more minor mistakes and in general delay your projects. Are you taking this into account? or just hand-waving it and just saying an ex-convict will be as good as a proper tradie?

"Building large ... hydroelectric power stations". Already been done just about everywhere hydroelectric power is practical.

""HAL plans to keep the construction workers on their payroll and would then employ them as maintenance workers, electricians, plumbers, etc within the power station and the corporate town." Maintenance work is always performed by a fraction of the people needed to build the project.

"Now the maintenance workers and the workers at the power stations would be recruited from the same pool: the unemployed or disenfranchised". That contradicts what you just wrote about keeping the construction workers on the payroll.

As JBH points out, company towns are not a new thing. Coal mining was one of the most common (if not the most common) industry doing this. Pay the workers in company money (seriously, they issued their own script) that can only be used in company stores. They can't save a dime to leave and they can't leave because they somehow never make enough to pay for their company housing and food. Leaving this as a comment because it duplicates JBH's post (it's well-known history). A good movie on the topic is Matewan.

@Cyn "You load sixteen tons, what do you get? / Another day older and deeper in debt. / Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go / I owe my soul to the company store."

The biggest problem I see is that if you need as many maintenance workers and operators as you need to build something then either the product you have built isn't very reliable or your former construction workers now maintenance people are being 'paid' for doing no productive work whatsoever. Either way there are more economic alternatives and HAL will soon be out of business.

@StephenG I don't see a problem with hiring ex-convicts. It's more then likely they just made a mistake they regret and now are having trouble getting employed because of it. HAL notices that a: they can be trained for roughly the same cost b: good for PR and c: if HAL is the only company that will hire them.and have a decent salary they'll probably work their ass off

@RonJohn in the u.s. you have a few uncompleted dams or areas protected by national parks that could become hydroelectric plants. I think I forgot too mention that a fraction of the workers would stay behind (maybe after they finish a term) while the rest move on too the next construction sight

@Shadowzee I never said I didn't train them.... All I said is I recruited from the disenfranchised. I don't really know why you would assume they wouldn't be trained.

@L.Dutch. HAL provides power to regular customers as well. They also use hybrid nuclear energy (fusion is slowly being built up by their rival company)

American railroads: common to treat some workers well, & others badly. "Disparities between Chinese and white workers...The Chinese had seen a pay increase from $31 to $35 per month by Spring 1867, but it fell short of the $40 monthly salaries [for] whites...They were also toiling longer hours, often under dangerous conditions, whipped or restrained if they left to seek employment elsewhere. And unlike whites, the Chinese had to foot the bill for their lodging, food, and tools." nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/…

To whom HAL would sell the power if globally everything was going down to the global need for energy would also be going down?

@SZCZERZO The idea is oil became horribly expensive too use so you have to invest into alternatives like nuclear. Basically the masses would need power due to the fuel and energy crisis.

@CelestialDragonEmperor if HAL is the only company that will hire them [convicts].and have a decent salary they'll probably work their ass off Some ex-cons want to reform (want not being the same as succeeding). But you need to look at the recidivism rate and understand that job security is not a priority for criminals.

@CelestialDragonEmperor unemployment rise mean that companies fire people. so they don't need energy to work. unemployed people don't have money to go to waste so they try to save energy as much as they can. Does existing energy sources not dependant on oil and coal are not enough for that lowered need?

And then civil liberties set in, economic failure and the company is bought by the convicts, (ex ex makes non-ex). Sounds cool, who you thought you exploited finally runs the world.

@StephenG I'd argue that you have some low standards for ex-convicts

@SZCERZO well unemployment can be limited to certain sectors so the oil fields might be laying off massive numbers of people while say a hydro plant is still hiring. The Hoover Dam was built in the middle of the great depression.

Not sure what ex-convicts bring to this. If the world is really going to pot, then there would be plenty of non-criminals looking for jobs. The Hoover dam wasn't built by ex-cons. Or the companies would do what they do now... import less expensive foreign labor.

@Grandmaster the idea in my head is "last chancers" will work harder then regular people to keep their job especially if only HAL will hire them.

@CelestialDragonEmperor Perhaps I'm too old and jaded, but I don't think its very realistic to expect ex-convicts to suddenly develop a work ethic. That's just not how it works. There may be some small percentage that will, but they will be the exceptions not the rule.