Tag Archives: Georgia Power

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

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

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

Georgia House tees up solar bill

by Dave Williams
ATLANTA 1/13/15 — After several false starts, legislation letting property owners in Georgia contract directly with solar companies to finance and install solar panels is on the fast track in the General Assembly.

A legislative subcommittee signed off on the bill Tuesday after Georgia Rep. Mike Dudgeon, R-Johns Creek, presented a compromise hammered out during the last 10 months by representatives of the solar industry and Georgia utility companies.

“It’s been an adventure,” Dudgeon said in describing the months of negotiations that began after his bill failed during last year’s legislative session for lack of support from the utilities. “I don’t think this is the ideal bill for everybody. But if most people are happy, we’ve probably reached a pretty good compromise.”

Read the whole article: Atlanta Business Chronicle

King: Pilgrims seek spiritual fire

by Joan King
GAINESVILLE 12/16/14 — The Public Service Commission meets today for a semiannual review. I’ll be there. I’m anxious to see what the commissioners have to say about cost overruns at Plant Vogtle, Georgia Power’s nuclear facility near Waynesboro.

Last week, The Times published a front-page story warning that the new construction is over budget and behind schedule. No surprises there. Vogtle’s two original reactors took 20 years to complete and were 1,200 percent over budget by the time they went online.

What is different and interesting is the language used in the latest progress report. Two state regulators, William Jacobs, a nuclear engineer, and Steven Roetger, a financial analyst, said Georgia Power’s lack of a proper production schedule, “…runs counter to any prudent project management, nuclear or otherwise.” Remember that word “prudent.” It may be the key to mothballing the project.

Read the whole article: Gainesville Times

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

Ga. agency seeks funding to track nuclear costs

by Ray Henry
ATLANTA (AP) 1/25/14 — Badly outnumbered regulators in Georgia want to hire two more employees to keep tabs on the $14 billion project to build a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant.

Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power says its share of the project to build Plant Vogtle (VOH’-gohl) is projected to go hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. Its 2.4 million customers will pay for the company’s building costs unless regulators force the utility to take losses on questionable spending.

Now the chairman of the Public Service Commission, Chuck Eaton, is asking state lawmakers for roughly $180,000 to fund two more employees to carefully track utility spending and construction efforts. The information those monitors gather will be crucial if regulators ultimately want to block Georgia Power from billing its customers for at least some of the project’s increasing cost.

Regulators are at a disadvantage when contending with Georgia Power, a monopoly that owns a 46 percent stake in the nuclear plant.

Read the whole article: SFGate

Let the Vogtle DOE Loan Vanish

by Kennedy Maize
Washington, D.C., January 21, 2014 – Sorry, I confess I just don’t get it. Why is the Department of Energy still negotiating with the Southern Company for a below-market loan to finish construction of two more units at Georgia Power’s Vogtle nuclear plant?

The utility says it will go it alone if the Obama administration doesn’t come through with a loan of $8.3 billion (for what is now a $15.5 billion project). Indeed, construction is going forward on the project, and it appears to be on schedule. So why should Uncle Sam subsidize the project?

Let ’em go. If the Southern Co, doesn’t need the money, that’s great. Go for it, Southern.

The only answer I’ve seen so far is that without the federal largess, local customers will pay more for electricity. So Southern Co., Municipal Energy Agency of Georgia, Oglethorpe Power Corp., and the city of Dalton want federal taxpayers to subsidize Georgia electric customers. Huh? Again, I don’t get it.

Read the whole article: Powernews

Unneeded nuclear plants

by Bob Farquhar
MACON 1/13/14 — Joe Hubbard’s Dec. 24 letter “Citizens pay the cost” brings to mind one profit-enhancing scheme of Southern Company most people are unaware of. CWIP, or Construction Work In Progress, is a fee levied on electric customers to finance the construction costs of two unproven nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro. Georgia Power bills show “Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery” for the 7.6 percent that ratepayers have been forking over since 2009 when the Georgia Legislature and Public Service Commission approved CWIP. So far about $1.5 billion has been collected. CWIP reduces Southern Company’s financial risk for construction, passing it on to ratepayers.

Read the whole article: Macon Telegraph

stopcwip.com

Repeal Georgia Nuclear Tax