Senate resolution would urge protection for ratepayers from Vogtle overrun

Abraham Kenmore, Augusta Chronicle
·2 min read
Hundreds of cars fill the parking lot at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro.
Hundreds of cars fill the parking lot at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro.

A bipartisan state Senate Resolution this week was introduced calling on the Public Service Commission to mitigate costs overruns for ratepayers from the Plant Vogtle expansion.

The resolution has not yet been put up for a vote, but it is sponsored by 23 senators, half the members of the chamber.

The resolution, SR 300, is to urge the PSC, the elected officials who regulate utilities in Georgia, to "pursue actions to protect 2,700,000 electricity customers from unjustly paying" for cost overruns.

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The two new nuclear power units will join two existing ones at the plant in Burke County, Georgia but the project has been plagued with cost overruns and delays.

Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, chair of the PSC, said the PSC oversight of construction has been rigorous. She re-iterated that the commission is following the lawful process.

"Last time I checked, impatience was not a virtue that would serve anybody well in constructing new energy generation," she said.

The resolution surprised her, Pridemore said, because none of the Senators brought her their concerns privately.

"I'm disappointed to see some friends in the Legislature take some cheap political shots" at the PSC, she said.

Jacob Hawkins, a spokesperson, for Georgia Power, re-iterated that the expansion is vetted by the PSC, and that the company is "committed to getting this project done right, with safety and quality first."

"No additional costs will be passed onto customers unless and until they are approved by the Georgia PSC, and after the units have entered service and are operating for the benefit of Georgia electric customers," Hawkins wrote in an email.

Unit 3 began nuclear reactions for the first time this month and still is undergoing testing before coming online. It was initially scheduled to begin operation in 2016. The total expansion was initially supposed to cost $14 billion, but will now likely cost more than $30 billion.

SR 300 says that Georgia Power customers were supposed to pay the cost of the company's $6.1 billion share of the initial cost, a share that is now almost double. Customers have also been paying a surcharge for six years longer than anticipated to fund the construction.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Ratepayers should be protected from Vogtle costs: Senate resolution