![]() ![]() While the science behind nuclear energy hasn’t changed, plant specs have, meaning engineers can’t simply dust off their old blueprints. The challenge is a bit like returning to the moon decades after the last astronaut left. They’re bankrolling a grand experiment that, if successful, could revive the country’s languishing nuclear power industry and usher in a bright new era of reliable, relatively carbon-free energy. The most expensive construction project in state history is already more than three years behind schedule, and the cost of the delays is ultimately borne by the company’s customers, who underwrite the Vogtle expansion with every power bill they pay.īut Georgia Power’s customers aren’t simply paying for a bigger power plant. That’s partly because Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of the country’s second-biggest utility, Southern Company, chose a still-unproven reactor design that has contributed to cost overruns on what is currently projected to be a $17 billion undertaking. However you look at it, Vogtle represents an expensive gamble-both for the energy company and its customers. ![]() In 2012 federal regulators signed off on the company’s proposal to build the nation’s first new reactors in more than 35 years. Not long after the Dalberts arrived, Georgia Power announced plans for two more reactors at Vogtle, which would allow it to generate more energy than any other nuclear plant in the country. “But I cannot carry them on my shoulder on a daily basis. The cost of the third and fourth reactors was originally supposed to be $14 billion.“I’ve thought about those things,” she says. Because they dispute that they owe any more costs for Vogtle, Oglethorpe and Dalton customers might not see further increases because of the delay.Ī third and a fourth reactor were approved for construction at Vogtle by the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2009, and the third reactor was supposed to start generating power in 2016. Some increased costs will be passed through to municipal utilities served by MEAG. Georgia Power must prove any capital costs above $5.68 billion were prudently spent. The Georgia Public Service Commission, a five-member elected body that sets rates for Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers, could approve even less spending. Georgia Power has signaled it may not request to be repaid for more than $7.3 billion in capital costs and about $400 million in financing, but could ask for more. The effects of the further delay on ratepayers are unclear. ![]() Ratepayers at Georgia Power and some cooperatives served by Oglethorpe are already paying for Vogtle, and most electric customers in Georgia, as well as in parts of Alabama and Florida, will eventually be charged. The company warned it could have to pay those two co-owners another $345 million in the dispute. Georgia Power has settled its lawsuit with MEAG, but the suits with Oglethorpe and Dalton are still ongoing. That’s projected to include $407 million in costs that Georgia Power has assumed from the other owners, after all three sued to force the company to honor a cost-sharing agreement. Georgia Power says it will now spend a projected $10.6 billion on construction costs, not counting some financing costs. The company said it was also pushing back its completion dates for Unit 4, citing slower-than-planned testing. That’s the last major waypoint before commercial operation. The utility said the Unit 3 reactor is now likely to reach a self-sustaining nuclear reaction, a stage called criticality, in March or April. Fanning told investors that other issues causing delays included a slowly dripping valve that required a now-completed repair, as well as a problem involving the flow through the reactor coolant pumps that hasn’t been pinpointed. ![]()
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