Bloated Costs Take Over Georgia Nuclear Plant; Fight Looms Over Who Pays

"Vogtle’s two new nuclear reactors are six years late and at least $16 billion over their original budget. The plant will have no direct carbon footprint, but critics say there are much cheaper ways to reduce emissions."

"Ballooning cost overruns and construction delays at Georgia Power Co.’s  Vogtle nuclear project threaten to cost the state’s electricity consumers  billions of dollars in the decades to come, a new think tank report concludes.

The report, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a nonprofit advancing a sustainable energy economy, builds a case that stockholders of the company should take the lead on construction and carry much of the financial load, rather than ratepayers.

Once estimated to cost $14 billion, the price tag for two new reactors at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle property has climbed past $30 billion, and both units will be more than six years late in coming online, the institute reported after combing through public records including testimony at a Georgia Public Service Commission hearing in December. The plant already has two existing nuclear power units that began producing electricity in the 1980s."

James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News January 21, 2022.

SEE ALSO:

"How Georgia Nuclear Project’S Big Finish Went So Wrong" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

"Georgia Power's Vogtle Doubles Original Cost Amid Further Delay" (Utility Dive)

"What Ratepayers Should Know About The Plant Vogtle Expansion" (GPB)

Source: Inside Climate News, 01/24/2022