Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle has come under fire since beginning construction in 2009. A new report criticizes the role of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which allowed the nuclear plant to move forward. It also questions the impact of the plant on consumers.
Georgia Power customers may see an increase of as much as 10% on their energy bills this year. Patty Durand claims that this increase will help cover the $37 billion cost of the plant, including $20 billion in cost overruns.
Durand is the founder of the energy consulting group Cool Planet Solutions, and is a coauthor of the study. She says that Plant Vogtle is the most expensive energy production site in the world. What led to the hefty price tag?
“Among the reasons are that there was a lot of incompetence and inappropriate management decisions on the part of Southern Company and Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power. In fact, cost overruns were so extreme that the main contractor Westinghouse went bankrupt in 2017.”
2017 was an important year for Plant Vogtle for another reason—the elected Georgia Public Service Commission, or PSC, allowed the plant’s construction to move forward, despite their staff’s warnings against it. Durand claims that the PSC is deep in something called regulatory capture.
“There are a lot of problems with the Georgia PSC not regulating in the public interest. Some of the problems include the fact that the commissioners are political patronage appointees. They bring no energy experience to the role.”
In addition, Durand says that none of the Public Service Commissioners are customers of Georgia power. So--
“We don’t have any representation to protect us from whatever Georgia Power wants.”
The rate increase Durand says Plant Vogtle is driving could have deadly consequences. Energy poverty, or when households are unable to access essential energy services, could be exacerbated in the state.
“We’re not talking about sitting around in the dark when someone loses their power. We’re talking about very serious consequences. For instance, someone could lose their children. DFACs will not allow parents to have children in a home with no power. They could be evicted. Even worse, someone could die in Georgia’s brutal summer heat.”
Despite Plant Vogtle’s high costs, energy officials are pursuing nuclear power. At a recent press conference at the plant, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called for the US to triple its nuclear capacity. Durand is highly critical of this goal.
“Granholm is up there calling for tripling reactors with no knowledge of what they cost. How can she sleep at night when she’s calling for such an expensive source of energy that will harm ratepayers across the board when there’s so many more affordable options available?”
Granholm, however, suggested passing nuclear energy costs to corporations that use a lot of energy rather than everyday consumers.
