Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear station likely to again miss a deadline

Georgia Power now says Vogtle nuclear ‘likely’ to bust deadline, GEORGIA NEWS, March 20, 2021, By Matt Kempner, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution GEORGIA NEWS Company cites need for ‘remediation’ work to meet standards

Georgia Power’s parent, Atlanta-based Southern Company, now is acknowledging that the

company is likely to miss the current deadline for completing the first of two new nuclear reactors

at Plant Vogtle, a move that could further increase consumer costs on a project already years

behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Potentially more worrisome was the reason given. In a filing on Friday, the company cited the need for additional

“remediation work” on the construction project “necessary to ensure quality and design standards are met.” It

said that, given the problems found, “primarily related to electrical commodity installations,” it is launching a

broader review of the quality programs on the massive project.

Independent monitors and staff for state regulators have long warned that Georgia Power was falling further

behind on the project and was unlikely to make its latest deadline, increasing the likelihood of additional costs.

Those worries surfaced well before the COVID-19 pandemic raised still more challenges for the project.

But for years, Georgia Power and its parent company have repeatedly assured investors, Wall Street analysts

and government regulators that it expected to meet its November 2021 deadline to have the first of two new

reactors in commercial operation.

Only recently did the company say that timetable would be a challenge. In its Friday filing, the company wrote

that “a delay is likely and could add one month or more.” The November date is years later than what the

monopoly electric provider agreed to when it started the multibillion-dollar project with the approval of elected

members of the Georgia Public Service Commission.

Many other electric providers in Georgia, including municipal systems and electric co-ops, are also contractually tied to the Vogtle expansion.

The new reactors at Vogtle, located south of Augusta, have yet to generate electricity, but monthly bills for Georgia Power customers already include charges related to

the project. Additional costs for the project’s construction and additional company profits are expected to be rolled into customer bills later.

If the project is further delayed, Georgia Power faces the prospect of a short-term cut in its government-allowed profits. Long term, though, higher costs on the project

could allow the company to collect increased profits for decades, based on the way its rates are typically set, if agreed to by the PSC…………….

The Vogtle expansion is the only major commercial nuclear power expansion project currently underway in

the United States. https://www.ajc.com/ajcjobs/georgia-power-now-says-vogtle-nuclear-likely-to-bust-deadline/SHLBRV4SVFDSPPFUZPF7QII5NA/