Tag Archives: rate increase

Activists Ask Regulators To Reconsider Nuclear Power Units

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by Molly Samuel
ATLANTA 6/23/15 — Activists are asking Georgia’s energy regulators to reconsider building new nuclear power units at Plant Vogtle. The plant expansion is expected to be complete in 2020 – three years behind schedule.

Georgia Power has to go to the Public Service Commission every six months to get its expenses for construction at Vogtle approved. Right now, the last half of 2014 is under consideration. The PSC holds hearings to find out what’s going on at the plant, then lets Georgia Power pay its contractors.

Outside groups also get to weigh in. On Tuesday, Glenn Carroll, a coordinator for Nuclear Watch South, asked the PSC to consider stopping the process entirely.

“We think the public deserves to know what it would cost to cancel Plant Vogtle and compare that to the $12 billion we have left to spend,” she said.

Read the whole article: WABE 90.1 FM Atlanta’s NPR Station

Duke Energy says it will drop nuclear fee off Florida bills

3/2/15 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – One of Florida’s largest power companies says it will go ahead and drop a nuclear power fee now charged to customers.

State regulators last October ordered Duke Energy Florida to refund $54 million it collected from ratepayers to pay for a failed nuclear plant in Levy County.

Duke on Monday filed a request that asks state regulators to approve a proposal to drop an average $3.45 a month charge from bills. A spokesman for Duke said the charge could be removed as soon as this summer.

Duke announced in 2013 it was abandoning plans to build the plant in Levy County on Florida’s Gulf coast.

Some of Duke’s billing practices have created an outcry. There is a push during this year’s legislative session to place additional restrictions on utilities.

Read the whole article: MyFoxOrlando.com

Man who challenged power plant resists easy labels

by Paul Hampton
3/1/15 HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Thomas A. Blanton is a theologian. And a student of Jean Lafitte.

An oilman. And an environmentalist.

A rock ‘n’ roll impresario twice over. And a protest singer with an unreleased album.

A fan of Mark Twain. And Uncle Remus.

A community organizer who can direct the distribution of thousands of campaign cards a day. And an unsuccessful candidate for the Public Service Commission.

A strict constitutional constructionist. And a Democrat.

A cancer survivor. And a professional hell-raiser.

He resists labeling. You could say he is eclectic. Even his friends allow he’s a bit eccentric.

With white hair flowing down his back, an eye lost to cancer and a beard gone wild, he’s the image of a pirate. But he says the only thing he’s interested in raiding is the corporate boardrooms of those interested in pocketing a fortune at the expense of the little guy, or the planet.

He’s well known in south Mississippi as the man who took on Mississippi Power and the state’s Republican political machine over the baseload act and subsequent rate increases for electricity meant to pay for the Kemper County power plant.

Read the whole article: The Sun-Herald

Nuclear Energy Renaissance Takes Another Blow and May Never Recover

by Travis Hoium
2/7/15 — The nuclear renaissance some people hoped for took another big step backward this week when the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant said it would be delayed another 18 months and cost at least $720 more than the $14.5 billion previously expected.

Nearly every nuclear plant that’s been proposed in the U.S. in the last decade has run into major cost overruns and delays, and without government support, the nuclear renaissance may already be dead. But the latest delay casts a shadow over an energy source that’s becoming increasing uncompetitive in today’s energy landscape.

Read the whole article: The Motley Fool

State Inspector Says Vogtle Nuclear Project Will Be Delayed Further

by Jonathan Shapiro
ATLANTA 12/16/14 — The nuclear expansion project at Plant Vogtle near Augusta appears headed for further delay, which could result in higher electric bills for ratepayers.

The state’s independent construction monitor, William Jacobs, said last month he expects the two new reactors to take longer to build than Georgia Power’s current projections.

“(State staff) and (I) believe that the (completion dates) will be further delayed. At this time…it is impossible to determine a reasonable forecast range as to when the (twin reactors) could be commercially available,” testified Jacobs.

Read the whole article: WABE 90.1

Democrat first to try eliminating nuclear cost recovery this session

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by Michael Hinman
11/25/14 FLORIDA — A Tallahassee lawmaker is taking on one major campaign issue from the state’s mid-term elections right away, proposing a bill that would eliminate the ability of utility companies like Duke Energy Corp. to collect money for its failed nuclear plant projects.

State Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, filed H.B. 4001 last Friday. If passed, it would repeal the nuclear cost recovery statute that has put Duke in line to collect more than $3.2 billion from customers through a $3.45 monthly surcharge. It’s supposed to pay for the now-closed Crystal River nuclear facility, as well as a cancelled nuclear power plant in Levy County.

The nuclear cost recovery statute was one of the big issues that affected the governor’s race, as well as some local races, including the one state Rep. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, eventually won. Burgess was forced to defend a $1,000 direct donation from Duke during an October candidate forum, as well as $2,000 of indirect support from Duke through the Republican Party of Florida.

Read the whole article: The Laker – Lutz News

Editorial: Repeal abusive nuclear fee bill

11/12/14 — ocala.com It is unconscionable that Duke Energy is sitting on $1.5 billion of ratepayers’ money that was collected to pay for two now-canceled Levy County nuclear power plants and refusing to refund the money. Even more outrageous is that the Florida Public Service Commission, which is appointed by the Legislature to represent the “public” interests in utility matters, has refused to order the company to do so.

Now comes state Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, who represents a good portion of Marion County, with proposed legislation to repeal the notorious “nuclear cost recovery fee” legislation that allowed Duke to collect the money in the first place.

The law was passed in 2006 to encourage Florida utilities to build nuclear power plants. The companies, especially large ones like Duke and Florida Power & Light, convinced lawmakers that it was wiser to pay for the mega-costly facilities — the Levy plants would have cost in excess of $24 billion — by collecting money from customers up-front. Problem is, there was no provision for refunding the money if it was not used for its intended purpose.

Read the whole article: ocala.com

Money and power: How much will Georgia Power’s nuclear reactors cost us?

By Joeff Davis
ATLANTA 9/25/14 — Have you glanced at your electric bill lately? Next time it arrives in the mail, give it a closer look.

You might not have noticed, but your monthly bill has increased over the last few years. And it’s not because you are using more energy. It’s because we, the Georgia Power ratepayers, are helping to finance the construction of the utility’s new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. Located approximately 175 miles southeast of Atlanta, the reactors are the first new ones to be approved in the United States in nearly 30 years.

Though it doesn’t say so on your bill, ratepayers are paying more than they were in 2011. And you’re not using a kilowatt more. When those reactors come online, you might pay even more. Your monthly bill could soar because the project suffers from delays and cost overruns. You’ll be footing the bill without knowing the costs ahead of time. It’ll be sticker shock. For a project that was shoved down our throats, we deserve more transparency.

Read the whole article: Creative Loafing

A tale of two states’ electricity rates

by Brian Hicks
Charleston 3/30/14 — John Bennett decided to skip Charleston’s psychotic winter this year and spend a few months in Florida.

But even in the Sunshine State he got a cold chill from the Lowcountry.

A few weeks ago Bennett’s Florida power bill came in about the same time as his forwarded bill from SCE&G. The comparison couldn’t have shocked him more if he’d had his finger in a light socket.

Even though he had used four times as much power in Florida as in his Charleston home, the bills were just $5 apart.

“I don’t understand how they’ve been allowed to get away with this for so long,” Bennett says.

Read the whole article: Charleson Post & Courier

MEAG creating three subsidiaries for Vogtle funding

by Ray Lightner
GRIFFIN 2/8/14 — The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) is asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow it to create up to three wholly owned subsidiaries to help MEAG fund the expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant.

The expansion, adding reactors 3 and 4, has already been approved, with MEAG as one of the licensed co-owners, along with Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation and the City of Dalton. MEAG owns 22.7 percent, Oglethorp Power owns 30 percent, City of Dalton owns 1.6 percent and Georgia Power owns the rest.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company operates Vogtle and is making the request, which would allow MEAG to create the three subsidiaries, dividing up MEAG’s 22.7 percent share of the electricity generated by the two new reactors.

Read the whole article: Griffin Daily News

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Repeal Georgia Nuclear Tax