Agreement Reached To Continue Vogtle Construction
The deadline was extended, then extended again, to get an agreement to proceed agreeable to all owners of the new nuclear reactors under construction at Plant Vogtle. Some background on the issue can be found here, but the long and short is that the non-Georgia Power owners wanted some assurance of a cost cap, and Oglethorpe Power (supplier to many of Georgia’s EMC’s) voted Monday night to proceed only with a cap.
This set off rounds of meetings and negotiations, with deadlines being set then extended. The parties came to a resolution this afternoon which appears to have included some safeguards against escalating construction costs. Details are sparse, but Georgia Power’s statement reads in part:
“We are all pleased to have reached an agreement and to be moving forward with the construction of Vogtle Units 3 & 4 which is critical to Georgia’s energy future,” said the co-owners. “While there have been and will be challenges throughout this process, we remain committed to a constructive relationship with each other and are focused on reducing project risk and fulfilling our commitment to our customers.”
In connection with the votes to continue construction, all four of the co-owners agreed to finalize and execute definitive agreements which helps mitigate financial exposure for each of them. The details are contained in Georgia Power’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed today.
The new units are the first to be built in the United States in more than 30 years and the only new nuclear units currently under construction in America. Expected on-line in November 2021 (Unit 3) and November 2022 (Unit 4), the new units are expected to generate enough emission-free electricity to power approximately 500,000 homes and businesses.
Today, Vogtle 3 & 4 is the largest jobs-producing construction project in the state of Georgia, employing more than 7,000 workers from across the country, with more than 800 permanent jobs available once the units begin operating. Progress and productivity continue to improve, illustrated by multiple recent achievements such as the placement of the first steam generator and both accumulators – a key component of the AP1000 reactor safety system – inside the Unit 4 containment vessel.
Additionally, an AP1000 unit in China reached its final technical milestone last week, which will allow the unit to enter commercial operations. Three more AP1000 units are in full testing and will reach commercial operation soon.
About Author
Charlie
Founder of GeorgiaPol.com; Now weekly columnist Very interested in Georgia and Georginas. Interest in politics is waning daily.
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The only group not represented are the ratepayers. Everyone got what they wanted but the open, unfettered checkbook for a private entity goes on unabatted. This is the biggest under the radar scandal in the history of Georgia. And…it is owned completely by the “conservative” majority of republicans who run this state. Who will set up a study committee to see how we can remove the state from oversight on public utilities?
All signs are that half of every additional overrun dollar will a nickel to Goeriga Power’s bottom line, plus an increase in rates for Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG and Dalton utilities.
“Georgia Power expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information.”
Given their track record so far this falls under the No Shit Sherlock category. Simple question that I can’t seem to find verification on anywhere give or take a billion or two; how much money has actually been spent to date? How much remains to be spent?
No one knows the answers to your questions or any others. The justification for the continued abuse of ratepayers is that this is jobs program. No ratepayer alive now will ever see any benefit from the boondoggle. I do know why BJ Pak isn’t treating this same way he’s treating the corruption at city hall but its just not pc to say it.
Republican support of spending always cites the jobs it creates, but when opposed they cite waste.
My understanding is the amount spent to date approaches $15B, and fully approved spending is $27B (or $29B if the former doesn’t include the most recent $2B adjustment.)
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Westinghouse got out cheap.
So we are in the same status as the end of last year when the PSC decided to go forward spending the ratepayers money as the venture capital for Southern Company. Going forward would still cost more than twice as much money than if the nuclear fiasco was scrapped and the same capacity plants were built utilizing natural gas.
Actually it appears I miscalculated. Using Energy Department data $10 billion would pay for 4 times the capacity of reactors 3 & 4 in natural gas plants. Of course it doesn’t pay for the gas itself but jeez louise.
Fun fact: $25 billion in ones weighs 27,500 tons. Maybe Georgia Power should have just damned the Savannah River with dollar bills.
The are elected officials. so contact your commissioners. District 3 and 5 are on the ballet in November.
http://www.psc.state.ga.us/content.aspx?c=/commissioners/
I have. I can’t recall an incumbent PSC member not being reelected. This is Georgia and regardless of the party in power that almighty I on the right side of the name is formidable. Even when it really stands for incompetent.
Yes, contact the PSC but every member of the General Assembly who was in office in 2009 and voted to give the Southern Co a blank check backed by the ratepayer is complicit. Everyone of them should be defeated and investigated.
We even had one of the commissioners or at least someone representing himself as Chuck Eaton on here a couple of years ago questioning why I would never vote for one of the incumbent PSC commissioners then. My response was basically about Plant Vogtle.
https://www.georgiapol.com/2016/04/25/vote-not-fast/
And thinking of that did jog my memory that Eaton himself defeated an incumbent Democrat to gain his seat on the PSC. You’ll perhaps forgive the lapse as many who vote don’t even know what the PSC does. Remember we had a guy trying to pass as a lawyer and Georgia lobbyist at PP who openly admitted he had never heard of it.
I read your 2016 comments and you were soooooo…right. The legislature and the PSC work for the “public” in theory but the fact is that they really work for the entities they were supposed to regulate. This is due to two factors: 1) campaign contributions and 2) corruption. The first one could be addressed by defeating them at the ballot box but most people are so disconnected from this issue they vote against their self interests. The second issue would require a different political structure. The AG and the US Attorney are focused like a laser on the airport and the city of atlanta, meanwhile, billions of rate payers dollars have been subverted in a hugh political scandal at the state level. The real issue is the party and structure in power runs everything and the people have been and will continue to be screwed.
I heard a pro-Vogtle radio ad this morning telling me how happy I should be about GP’s efforts to provide clean and green energy for millions of Georgia households while at the same time creating thousands of jobs and ensuring the continued economic well-being of the state. While it was never explicitly stated, the ad gave me the impression GP was providing those services because that’s just what a loving and benevolent public utility does.
It was remarkable really. Never heard anything quite like it before on radio. It was the type of ad that on TV would be filled with soft-focus images of children playing and deer grazing while smiling line crews look on.
An open question to the lawyers: How is it legal for The State to compel a company’s customers to pay that company money even though they are not going to receive any goods or services for those payments? Especially framed in an agreement that allows the company to receive even more payments the longer the project is delayed. In the unlikely event that I”m still alive when reactors 3 and 4 start producing I will still pay the same rate the PSC deems appropriate regardless of the source. I understand how they can compel us to pay taxes to the state, however I don’t understand how it is legal to compel me to pay a non-government agency for nothing in return.
Perhaps I could get a response if we go to the civil side of the equation and I utter the ultimate magic attorney words: Class Action?
Well, I’m sure you know that the rates you pay start with the statutory grant of monopoly power, and the regulatory framework administered by the PSC.
What I think you’re alluding to, though, may be a “regulatory taking”, which can happen when a regulation (here, PSC action) results in a deprivation of property rights without just compensation. That concept is usually applied to real property, though. In any event, I’m no expert in this area.
I’m not necessarily talking about suing City Hall, though I do think some individuals were complicit in awarding Georgia Power, et al. a license to steal. I’m mainly talking about suing GP for exceeding that license in spades. Obviously I don’t have a legal education and I know common sense doesn’t apply at times, however I’m failing to understand how the ratepayers themselves can’t sue to stop the insanity. Multiple natural gas plants can be built quadrupling the capacity of these 2 reactors for the 10 billion yet to be spent. Our current representatives are not paying heed to the ratepayers or even their own staff.
The “citizens” most likely to recover their expenses in based on actual use of electricity are large energy using corporations that have yet to pay a dime and may never die. The percentage of real people paying for this fiasco before the first kW is generated that will be dead will be in the double digits.
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The $200 a year taken from you if invested conservatively would be worth many thousands by the time the plant is fired up. The only real people now paying for the plant that can come out ahead are those in their 20’s and early 30’s, and that’s only if they don’t move out of state before they retire.
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Contrast the Republican whining about how poorly government does its job if the state wasted $150,000,000 in one year with the crickets you hear now. That’ $150M is a fifth of Georgia Power’s profit per year on just the overage. And that’s going to go on for decades.