nuclear-news

The proposed increase, which needs approval from the state’s Public Service Commission, would boost residential customers’ rates by 3.1 percent, or an average of $4.44 per bill for those using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. Commercial customers would see their rates increase by between 3 percent and 3.3 percent, depending on the size of the business, if the new rate structure is approved.

Until now, the biggest annual increase was 2.87 percent in 2013……..If the increase is approved, nearly 19 percent of residential customers’ monthly bills will be going solely toward construction of the new reactors, according to Dukes Scott, executive director of the state’s Office of Regulatory Staff, which represents consumers’ interests in utility matters.

To date, SCE&G has charged its customers more than $1 billion for construction of the units, Scott said. The proposed rate increase would raise another $74.2 million and would take effect at the end of November if approved……..

The proposed rate increase is part of the Base Load Review Act, passed in 2008 by the General Assembly. The law allows the utility to charge its 700,000 customers for construction as the nuclear project proceeds. Historically, utilities have financed construction through bond sales that are repaid after the project is completed.

The Base Load Review Act amounts to a “blank check” for SCE&G, according to Frank Knapp, president and CEO of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce and an opponent of the rate increases.

“The law was written by the industry, the General Assembly didn’t understand it and there has been no good evaluation of it since it was passed,” Knapp said. “Consequently, here we are.”……..

The nuclear reactors initially were supposed to go online in 2016 and 2018, but are now about two years behind schedule. Further construction delays could lead to more rate increases. SCE&G plans to receive $2.2 billion in federal Production Tax Credits, but those credits — part of the Energy and Policy Act of 2005 — expire if the units aren’t up and running by Dec. 31, 2020……http://www.postandcourier.com/20160628/160629448/sceg-files-for-31-percent-rate-increase-to-fund-nuclear-plant-construction