Category Archives: CWIP News

Southern Power passes 400 megawatts of solar power in Georgia

BUTLER 6/24/15 — Southern Power bought the 20-megawatt Butler Solar Farm from Strata Solar, bringing its total solar generation development in the Peach State to more than 400 megawatts.

The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) did not disclose financial terms.

The latest acquisition will be on 150 acres in Taylor County, Ga., about one mile from the previously acquired 103-megawatt Butler Solar Facility. The Butler Solar Farm is expected to enter commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2015. It will use more than 263,000 of First Solar Inc.’s thin-film photovoltaic solar modules.

Read the whole article: Atlanta Business Chronicle

More Construction Delays Put Focus on Vogtle Project’s Economics

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by Scott Judy
ENR 6/24/15 — As continuing construction delays cause financing and related costs to mount, time is starting to put “significant” strain upon the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project’s economics, according to recent testimony presented to the Georgia Public Service Commission by Georgia Power, state monitors and others. As a result, considerable discussion at the recent June hearings focused on whether completing the nuclear project still makes economic sense.

Read the whole article: ENRSoutheast

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 proposal could cost customers more in the long run

by Ivan Penn
3/2/15 TAMPA — Duke Energy Florida on Monday said it wants to suspend most of the remaining nuclear charge on customers’ bills for the canceled Levy County nuclear plant until it resolves a half-billion lawsuit over the project’s contract.

The proposal would give customers at least temporary relief from a $3.45 charge on the average bill each month, beginning around June 1, about six months earlier than expected.

But there’s a catch: While the proposal, if approved as filed, would save customers money in the short term, they might face far greater costs in the long run.

The proposal involves some complex maneuvering by the utility. At issue is Duke’s lawsuit with the contractor for the Levy project, Westinghouse Electric.

Read the whole article: Tampa Bay Times

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

Bill seeks to broaden financing access for solar installations

by Walter C. Jones
ATLANTA 1/13/15 — Georgia homeowners, churches and small businesses might soon have access to the financing needed to install solar panels with little upfront costs thanks to an agreement announced Tuesday during a state legislative hearing.

Coming up with thousands of dollars needed to install photovoltaic panels on the average home is difficult for most homeowners. But if the agreement discussed Tuesday becomes law, homeowners could lease their roofs to companies that pay them back with free electricity while selling the rest to the utilities.

Read the whole article: Athens Banner-Herald

Coalition of conservatives, liberals fight for more Florida solar power

by Ivan Penn
TAMPA 1/13/15 — Imagine the Christian Coalition and the tea party joining hands with liberals and environmentalists.

Add to the Kumbaya moment Libertarians and Florida’s retail business federation.

They all plan to unite this morning for a news conference in Tallahassee about their campaign to allow those in Florida who generate electricity from the sun to sell that power directly to other consumers. Right now, that’s illegal here.

The coalition, which has dubbed itself Floridians for Solar Choice, has crafted a petition that was approved for circulation last month. They’ll need 683,149 signatures by Feb. 1, 2016, to get the question on the ballot for the 2016 election.

For some it’s ideological. For others, such as the retailers, it’s pure economics.

Read the whole article: Tampa Bay Times

Bill for home solar systems wins early backing

by Matt Kempner
ATLANTA 1/13/15 — New legislation backed by power companies and solar advocates promises to make it easier and more affordable for Georgia homeowners and small businesses to put solar power systems on their rooftops.

At least that’s the hope with a bill unveiled Tuesday before a state house subcommittee. State Rep. Mike Dudgeon, R-Johns Creek, said he would submit the bill Wednesday. It clarifies how homeowners can get outside financing of small solar installations.

Solar advocates say one key to home systems is to make it easier to finance installation and equipment, which can cost $15,000 or more.

Read the whole article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Repeal Georgia Nuclear Tax