Based on the South Carolinas Experience. This whole thing challenges the extremist conservative Southern ideology.
The speaker was involved with this and backed them. Now he is backpedaling fighting for his political life. The Georgia politicians are now planning for the same thing. This thing was always to large and the largest utilities never had horsepower to control the build and pockets deep enough to fund to completion. The only big enough to do it was the US government. It should have been a government program. But all conservative ideology is locale based and they hate big government.
The SC speaker is saying the construction in progress legislation was the fault of the debacle. So the South Carolina legislators are going to bar a plant being put on rate base before completion. Georgia has the same laws as SC. The GA PSC is going to take a beating if they continue to allow construction is progress rules. If the SC political system says the Summer failure was the result of the construction works in progress, how can Georgia continue to justify their laws.
saying they would “gut existing laws” that allowed utilities to charge customers before the reactors were complete, and help avoid another expensive construction failure.
The Georgia Power ultimatum. The Vogtle new build is bleed ing out and there is nothing anyone can do. The only thing they can do is to delay the death of the program. The longer the death takes, the larger the consequences will be to the political system.
Kurt Ebersbach, senior attorney: “We’re concerned that this request amounts to a blank check. If you read their filing carefully, they really don’t make any bones about it. They are saying, ‘Commission, you must approve this revised cost estimate, tell us it is reasonable or we will not go forward.’ That if there is any hint they may not be able to recover all of it down the road, then they will not go forward. The project co-owners will not go forward.”
House Speaker: Change laws after nuclear plant failure
The South Carolina House speaker is proposing six new laws after the abandonment of two nuclear reactors in the state
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina House speaker is proposing six laws aimed at protecting consumers from the consequences of a failed project to build two nuclear reactors.
South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and the state-owned utility Santee Cooper have sought to insulate themselves from the hemorrhaging costs of their ill-fated joint venture at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, which they abandoned on July 31 after Westinghouse Electric, the Cranberry-based chief contractor, declared bankruptcy. The utilities had already spent more than $9 billion by then, collecting nearly $2 billion in interest from ratepayers along the way.
House Speaker Jay Lucas of Hartsville announced his proposals on Thursday, saying they would “gut existing laws” that allowed utilities to charge customers before the reactors were complete, and help avoid another expensive construction failure.
“The legislation introduced today lowers current rates and prevents consumers from paying a single penny more for the costly failed project,” the Republican’s statement said.Advertisement
Mr. Lucas’ legislation would cut SCE&G customer rates by 18 percent, the amount they’re currently paying for the project. A typical residential customer would save about $27 per month. The hit to SCE&G would total about $37 million per month, or nearly $450 million per year.
Another proposal would allow refunds of what customers have already paid, if regulators conclude there had been “poor management” by SCE&G. Still another would prevent Santee Cooper from collecting money to reimburse itself the costs of ending the project.
Currently, Santee Cooper is not subject to Public Service Commission oversight.
The proposed legislation would change that, and shake up its management structure as well, removing Santee Cooper’s board of directors, the Public Service Commissioners and even the panel that that interviews prospective members of the regulatory panel. Their replacements would be required to pass rigorous qualifications.Advertisement
Mr. Lucas also would give the Office of Regulatory staff, a state watchdog agency, more power.
Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore said the utility is reviewing the proposals. SCE&G had no immediate comment, but previously dismissed such ideas as “radical and disruptive.”
Incoming CEO Jimmy Addison of SCANA, SCE&G’s parent company, said making the utility pay its share of the project would scare off investors and lenders, making it harder to finance day-to-day operations, including purchasing fuel, hiring contractors for repairs and paying employees.
Already, SCANA stock has dropped 25 percent, reducing the company’s market capitalization to $6.3 billion, since the project was abandoned.
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