Tag Archives: Fitch

GA PSC abdicates cost oversight for new nukes at Plant Vogtle

Finish it and then send we the taxpayers and ratepayers a bill?
What kind of deal is that?
So Southern Company already
dodged a Fitch downgrade by delaying
a decision, and now GA PSC wants to put it off for years more.
That also delays solar deployment in Georgia, putting us still farther behind.

Ray Henry wrote for AP yesterday,

Ga. approves deal on nuclear plant costs,



A debate over the rising cost of building a nuclear power plant in
Georgia will be delayed for years under an agreement approved
Tuesday by Georgia’s utility regulators.

The elected members of Georgia’s Public Service Commission
unanimously approved a deal that will put off a decision on whether
Georgia Power can raise its budget for building two more nuclear
reactors at Plant Vogtle (VOH’-gohl) until the first of those
reactors is finished. An independent state monitor has estimated the
first reactor will be finished in January 2018 at the earliest.

Regulators will continue monitoring company spending but will not
make a decision on raising the bottom line budget figure.

So GA PSC will keep watching costs run over budget but will do nothing
about it.

Oh, wait, it’s actually worse: Continue reading →

GA PSC member ties Plant Vogtle nuke cost overruns to Kemper Coal in Mississippi

If Georgia Power stonewalls on cost overruns, will it lose
at least one Commissioner this time?


Long-time nuclear supporter Tim Echols suggested at

the hearings this morning
that cost overruns at nuclear Plant Vogtle should be capped like Southern Company
was forced to do for Kemper Coal by the Mississippi PSC.
Standard & Poor’s already

downgraded SO because of Kemper Coal
and two analysts have

downgraded SO for sticking to coal and nukes instead of doing more solar and wind.
If SO’s majority part Georgia Power loses the GA PSC, it could be curtains
for Plant Vogtle’s new nukes.

Ray Henry wrote for AP this morning,

Southern Co. challenged on nuclear plant costs,

Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power has asked to raise the budget
for its share of massive project by $737 million to roughly $6.85
billion.

Public Service Commission Tim Echols asked whether the firm has
considered offering a deal like one it reached in Mississippi over a
separate plant that also proved expensive to build. The company has
absorbed $540 million in losses in Mississippi and could face more.

Remember, Tim Echols has for two years now been Continue reading →

PSC rubberstamps Vogtle costs; next day Fitch affirms Southern Company ratings

Need any more proof that Southern Company’s nuclear boondoggle
only works with Georgia Power customer and taxpayer subsidy?
PSC rubberstamps one day and Fitch affirms ratings the next day.
Maybe we should elect Public Service Commissioners who will
serve the public.

Georgia Power PR 21 August 2012,

Georgia PSC approves Vogtle construction costs



The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) today in a 5-0 vote
approved Georgia Power’s spending on Plant Vogtle units 3 and 4 for
the period including July 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2011.

The next day, Fitch PR 23 August 2012,

Fitch Affirms Ratings for Southern Company and Subsidiaries,

Continue reading →