Cost controversies still inflame critics of Plant Vogtle expansion as kilowatts go online

The nuclear power expansion at Plant Vogtle that has been plagued by cost overruns and delays was toured by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2018. On May 1, Georgia Power announced another testing milestone as Vogtle’s final two units remain on track to be completed by June and early 2024. Photo by Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Georgia Power customers have been vocal about their displeasure over ratepayers bearing the hefty tab for the nuclear power expansion at Plant Vogtle.

Opponents of the Plant Vogtle expansion, including residential customers and organizations like the Sierra Club of Georgia, argue that household and commercial customers are shouldering a larger portion of the project’s expenses compared to industrial ratepayers and investments in solar and battery storage would have been a better option for the state’s largest electricity supplier.

Georgia Power ratepayer Sue Stoudemire said the controversial nuclear power expansion has faced more than enough setbacks over the last seven years that have led to projected costs doubling to north of $35 billion. On the other hand, Vogtle’s two nuclear reactor expansion is on track to provide power to several hundred thousand Georgians, as well as thousands of Floridians and Alabamans by early 2024, according to Georgia Power officials.

Last week, Georgia Power marked the milestone of unit three reactor reaching its maximum energy output for the first time. Company officials predict that unit 3 will be fully operational in June and that the final reactor of the four at the Burke County plant will be running within the first several months of next year.

Meanwhile state regulators continue to hear from Atlanta residents like Stoudamire and other detractors who say they are worried about the long-term benefits of the investment into nuclear expansion.

“Southern Company and Georgia are calling Plant Vogtle’s (units) 3 and 4 a triumph and the company plans to celebrate the plant’s birthday soon when they are expected to finally come online,” she said on Thursday during the Public Service Commission’s hearing on the 28th monitoring report on Plant Vogtle.

“The company’s celebration will ignore the millions of dollars it has taken from Georgians to help finance its for profit, private business and to pay for its many costly construction mistakes, delays and do-overs at a cost of billions over their proposed budget seven years late,”Stoudemire said.

A common complaint about Vogtle is that residential and commercial businesses pay a greater share of the expansion’s bills than industrial businesses.

An Atlanta Journal Constitution article in 2017 cited former president G.L. “Roy” Bowen as explaining how Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and other lawmakers were able to pass legislation by greatly reducing the costs levied on industries.

Mark Woodall of the Sierra Club of Georgia said customers would have been better off with more solar and battery storage than with two exorbitantly expensive nuclear reactors.

Residential customers pay more than four times as much for electricity as industrial customers because of the tariff approved in 2009.

“Southern Company will make out like bandits from Vogtle 3 and 4 going online” Woodall said. “It’s $700 million a year in additional cash flow. Residential customers will have the current affordability crisis made worse. Last year, almost 10% of Georgia Power’s customers were disconnected for nonpayment. That is a disaster for the people of Georgia.”

Meanwhile, the meter to get the plant to generate kilowatts continues to run. Georgia Power reported another $461 million in capital expenditures from July to December in its latest Vogtle monitoring report.

In the fall, state regulators are set to hold hearings to determine how much more Voglte’s expenses should be passed along to ratepayers. According to the company, the latest total capital expenses are expected to reach $10.2 billion, which is $3 billion more than commissioners in 2017 considered reasonable.

Georgia Power officials say they will decide how much more money to seek to recoup closer to the PSC hearings later this year.

“The company will review all the factors,” said Jeremiah Haswell, project oversight director for Vogtle.

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