Biden administration, Georgia officials applaud debut of Plant  Vogtle expansion • Georgia Recorder

Officials with the U.S. Energy Department plan to celebrate the completion of Georgia Power’s controversial nuclear power expansion at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro on Friday.

President Joe Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm are set to tour Plant Vogtle, which has become the nation’s largest nuclear power plant and the largest source of carbon-free electricity. In the next 60 to 80 years, the two new nuclear units are estimated to generate enough electricity for one million homes and businesses.

The historic occasion is also being celebrated by representatives from Georgia Power, Georgia Public Service Commission, top state lawmakers and a number of other business and community leaders who say the project is a shining example of how nuclear energy can create well-paying, high quality jobs while also producing electricity in a way that tackles the climate crisis. 

The two Vogtle units are the first nuclear reactors to be built in the United States in more than 30 years and the project’s supporters say Vogtle demonstrates how nuclear energy can generate high-paying jobs while producing electricity in a way that combats climate change.

Six Georgia energy and consumer groups released a report Thursday analyzing the true cost of nuclear power, citing the severe problems while constructing Vogtle that resulted in seven years of delays and $21 billion of cost-overruns. 

The two Vogtle units were under construction for 15 years at a cost of $36.8 billion. Unit 3 was completed in August while Unit 4 began producing electricity in April.

Vogtle could serve as the selling point for further nuclear development in the United States, with the Biden-Harris administration hosting a summit at the White House this week to highlight the ongoing collaboration between the public and private sectors.

The Biden-Harris administration announced Wednesday the formation of a nuclear power project working group composed of experts in nuclear power and mega-construction. 

The White House released a statement this week that says that nuclear energy has been the largest source of clean energy for decades, currently accounting  for 19% of national energy production and directly employing 60,000 workers.

“Alongside renewable power sources like wind and solar, a new generation of nuclear reactors is now capturing the attention of a wide range of stakeholders for nuclear energy’s ability to produce clean, reliable energy and meet the needs of a fast-growing economy, driven by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and manufacturing boom,” the White House statement said. 

However, a report released by Georgia consumer advocates contends that more nuclear development is not the best course of action for the future of the nation’s energy supply. 

The report titled Plant Vogtle: the True Cost of Nuclear Power in the United States, was commissioned by  Georgia consumer advocacy organizations like the Center for a Sustainable Coast, Concerned Ratepayers of Georgia and Cool Planet Solutions. It was authored by Kim Scott, executive director of Georgia WAND, Glenn Carroll, coordinator of Nuclear Watch South and Patty Durand, former president of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative and a Democratic Party candidate for the state PSC.

The average Georgia Power residential customer began paying an additional $5.42 per month, or a 3.2% increase, after Unit 3 began commercial operations last August. 

The two Vogtle units prompted the latest in a series of rate increases Georgia Power customers will continue to bear in the coming months.

According to the report, the average monthly bill for Georgia ratepayers will increase by $35 over the next two decades as Vogtle’s Units 3 and 4 are operational, or more than twice the $15 increase Georgia Power currently estimates.

The report contends that Georgia Power’s average household bill will rise by $420 annually in order to cover the cost of nuclear power that is seven times as expensive to produce as wind, solar and natural gas.

The analysis says that shareholders of Georgia Power’s parent company Southern Co. will continue to benefit from Vogtle’s financial windfall as the utility significantly expands its base rate. 

The report’s authors blame Georgia Power officials for a decade-long pattern of providing misleading costs estimates to state regulators  in order to continue justifying the Vogtle expansion. The construction of Vogtle was plagued by delays due to worker shortages, a strike, technical problems and its original contractor Westinghouse Electric Co. filing bankruptcy in 2017.

Brionté McCorkle, report co-author and executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters, said that Plant Vogtle is a cautionary tale for the rest of the country and that Georgians deserve safe, clean and affordable energy instead of wasting money to bring Vogtle’s nuclear reactors online.

“Imagine all of the renewable power, battery storage and energy-efficiency investments we could have made in the time it took to build the two new reactors at Plant Vogtle at a fraction of the cost,”  McCorkle said in a statement. “Imagine what we could have done with the $35 billion dollars instead of dumping them in this radioactive money-pit.”

Scott, the executive director of Georgia WAND, said that Georgia Power is more concerned with its own economic interests as Vogtle’s expansion is leaving its customers struck with paying exorbitantly high power bills. 

“So it is clear that Georgia Power is looking out for its own economic interests and (is) not concerned about moving Georgia to a clean-energy economy, let alone protecting the health of Georgians who live in and around nuclear power Plant Vogtle,” Scott said.

Republicans Gov. Brian Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns joined executives with Georgia Power and Vogtle co-owner’s Oglethorpe Power, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities to celebrate the Vogtle project earlier this week.

Georgia Power owns 45.7% of Plant Vogtle, followed by Oglethorpe Power Corporation at 30%, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia’s 22.7%, and Dalton Utilities 1.6.%.

Kim Greene, chairman, president, and CEO of Georgia Power, said the new Vogtle units are a key component in supporting the company’s goal of meeting growing electricity demands in Georgia. A large share of that demand is driven by new data centers opening across the state.

“As we mark the completion of the Vogtle 3 and 4 expansion, we’re grateful for the leadership and foresight of the Georgia PSC, as well as the steadfast dedication from all of the project’s co-owners,” Greene said. “(Wednesday), we welcomed business and community leaders, as well as elected officials and other guests from across Georgia, to celebrate the first newly constructed nuclear units in the U.S. in more than 30 years – representing a long-term investment to benefit our customers and the state. It is truly a great day for Georgia.”

Originally, the five-member Georgia Public Service Commission approved a $4.4 billion construction budget for Vogtle, but in 2017 state regulators and Georgia Power agreed that $7.3 billion would be considered a reasonable cost. 

In December, the Public Service Commission approved terms of a financial agreement requiring Georgia Power to cover at least $2.6 billion of the expected $10 billion in construction and capital costs. The terms were outlined in a stipulated agreement reached in August between Georgia Power, PSC advocacy staff, the Georgia Association of Manufacturers and consumer and watchdog advocacy organizations Georgia Watch and the Georgia Interfaith Power & Light and Partnership for Southern Equity. 

As part of the settlement, Georgia Power agreed to about a 50% expansion of energy efficiency programs and also offered up to 96,000 additional low-income seniors to participate in a program that would reduce their monthly bills by an average of $33.50.