{"id":11885,"date":"2014-12-18T11:50:36","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T16:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=11885"},"modified":"2014-12-18T12:00:03","modified_gmt":"2014-12-18T17:00:03","slug":"georgia-power-cant-get-a-schedule-from-its-own-contractors-for-vogtle-nuclear-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/georgia-power-cant-get-a-schedule-from-its-own-contractors-for-vogtle-nuclear-project.html","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Power can&#8217;t get a schedule from its own contractors for Vogtle nuclear project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\r\nAfter two years of no integrated project schedule (IPS),\r\nGeorgia Power tried to get the\r\nthe elected Public Service Commissioners to\r\ntell it how to enforce a contract for Plant Vogtle that Georgia Power\r\nbrought to them.\r\nThis video clip ends with formerly staunch pro-nuclear Commissioner\r\nH. Doug Everett saying any company that did that probably would be imprudent.\r\nAnd Everett also said:\r\n<blockquote>\r\nWe haven&#8217;t seen any results.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sZ6j9fcz1ck&#038;feature=youtu.be\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/sZ6j9fcz1ck\/mqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nGeorgia Power&#8217;s representative, I think Rob Trokey, said:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nWe have agreed haven&#8217;t we that\r\nthe company does not manage this project.\r\nThey oversee it,\r\nthey may report to this commission the status of it,\r\nbut it does not manage this project.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nAnswer from the Commission:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nIt doesn&#8217;t.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nSo who does?\r\nAccording to Georgia Power:<!--more-->\r\n\r\n\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nThe contractors.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe PSC asked:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nFrom the executives on down, this has been a longstanding issue.\r\nSix years into the project, we&#8217;ve got to get something tangible.\r\nSomebody has to be held responsible.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Georgia Power rep. then wanted a precise definition of\r\nthe prudence standard being used.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sZ6j9fcz1ck\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\nThanks to Claudia Musleve Collier for\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sZ6j9fcz1ck&#038;feature=youtu.be\">\r\nthis video<\/a> by Community Activism, with this description on YouTube:\r\n<br>\r\n&ldquo;On Tuesday, December 16, the Georgia Public Service Commission held\r\npublic hearings to report on the progress of construction at Vogtle\r\nNuclear Plants 3&#038;4. This is quite an interesting discussion as to\r\nwhether two PSC construction monitors thought Ga. Power was\r\nimprudent in not securing an Integrated Project Schedule (IPS) 6\r\nyears into the project.&rdquo;\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.psc.state.ga.us\/exsec\/administ.asp\">\r\nUTILITIES DIVISION AGENDA FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SESSION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2014 10:00 A.M.<\/a>\r\nand this appears to be the item:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nR-7.     DOCKET NO. 32539: <strong>Georgia Power Company Nuclear Construction Financing Cost Recovery Tariff<\/strong>:\r\nConsideration of Georgia Power Company&#8217;s Nuclear Construction Cost\r\nRecovery Update. (Rob Trokey, Tom Newsome)\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nSome more of the participants are mentioned in this article by\r\nSonal Patel, Powermag.com, 10 December 2014,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.powermag.com\/construction-monitor-longer-delays-are-likely-for-vogtle-reactors\/\">\r\nConstruction Monitor: Longer Delays Are Likely for Vogtle Reactors<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.powermag.com\/vogtle-gets-green-light\/\">\r\nconsortium building the project had originally projected<\/a> the\r\nfirst of the two AP1000 reactors would be operational in April 2016.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nBut Dr. William Jacobs, Jr., the Georgia Public Service Commission&#8217;s\r\n(PSC&#8217;s) independent construction monitor for the Plant Vogtle\r\nexpansion, and Steven Roetger, who is among the staff involved in\r\nproviding oversight of the project, now say\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.psc.state.ga.us\/factsv2\/Document.aspx?documentNumber=155941\">\r\nin the Nov. 21-released report<\/a> that &ldquo;it is impossible to determine a\r\nreasonable forecast range as to when the units could be commercially\r\navailable.&rdquo;\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBack at the PSC, the Commissioners had some discussion about whether they&#8217;d\r\nseen a reasonable schedule or whether Plant Vogtle was on budget.\r\n<p>\r\nThe Georgia Power rep. then asked and a PSC member (Tim Echols, I think)\r\nresponded:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\ngapower:\r\nI assume that you know what a reasonable manager would do\r\nunder the circumstances.\r\nHow would you get the IPS from the contractor?\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: \r\nThat&#8217;s not my problem.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: No, it is your problem.\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: Not it is not.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower (talking over): \r\n&#8230;because you&#8217;re saying that&#8230;\r\n<p>\r\nNo! No!\r\nIt is not.\r\nThe ratepayers, this Commission,\r\nnever contracted with this EPC.\r\nYou came to us\r\nwith a signed, sealed document, with a regulatory power.\r\nThis is your contract, Georgia Power&#8217;s contract.\r\nIt is your responsibility.\r\nIt says in the contract; the language is in our testimony;\r\nthat they are required to supply you with an IPS.\r\nOtherwise they are in breach of contract.\r\nHave you filed anything down in federal court?\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: Yes.\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: &#8230;that suggests they&#8217;re in breach of contract for not filing an IPS.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: There&#8217;s a lawsuit pending.\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: Specifically for an IPS?\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: There&#8217;s a lawsuit pending.\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: Does it address the IPS?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHe never got an answer, and the Georgia Power rep.\r\nstarted talking over him again.\r\nSomeone had to remind the Georgia Power rep.\r\nthat he wasn&#8217;t the one asking the questions. \r\nWhich only led to the Georgia Power rep.\r\ntrying to answer for the PSC.\r\nProducing this response:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: I would suggest that if you have gone two years without\r\na satisfactory IPS, and it&#8217;s well defined what that is,\r\nand you&#8217;ve done nothing about it,\r\nor not nothing about it, but you&#8217;ve not been able to\r\naffect positive change, then yes, we&#8217;ve got the right\r\nto question what&#8217;s going on.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: So what would you do as a reasonable manager different\r\nfrom what the company is doing.\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: I&#8217;m not going to answer that question, because I&#8217;m not party\r\nto the contract.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: I&#8217;m not trying to argue (talking over again)&#8230;\r\n<p>\r\nPSC: You&#8217;ve had every opportunity of rebuttal to explain\r\nto the Commission what you will do.\r\nIt&#8217;s your contract, why don&#8217;t you tell them what to do?\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: Well, here&#8217;s my difficulty, and Dr. Jacobs you understand\r\nthis from past proceedings.\r\nIt is important when one makes an allegation that one is bound to meet a reasonable manager standard.\r\nIt is important to define what that reasonable manager would have done.\r\nWhat should we have done differently than we have done\r\nin order to try to get the IPS schedule from the contractor.\r\nThat&#8217;s my simple question.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHe got an answer from a differnet Commissioner,\r\nand I recognize H. Doug Everett, because he&#8217;s\r\nthe Commissioner for my district.\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: Well, I don&#8217;t know what you have done, so it&#8217;s\r\nhard to answer.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: So how is it that we can say that we&#8217;ve been acting imprudently.\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: Because you don&#8217;t have an integrated project schedule\r\nthat all parties have seen and have agreed to and are working towards.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: But doesn&#8217;t prudence relate to conduct and activity as opposed\r\nto results.\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: Yes, generally, but results are important.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGeorgia Power continued to argue.\r\nThen this gem:\r\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: All you really know are the results.\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: We haven&#8217;t seen any results.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Georgia Power rep. then admitted once again\r\nnobody had seen an IPS.\r\nEventually his colleague stood up from the\r\nwitness table and shushed him.\r\n<p>\r\nNot that that stopped him.\r\nHe did stop talking over Commissioners,\r\nbut he kept badgering the Commission\r\nto define how Georgia Power should enforce its\r\nown contract.\r\n<\/P>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: Do you understand that the company has been asking the consortium\r\nfor their IPS schedule?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;m guessing he was referring to the\r\nWestinghouse-Shaw consortium, as in this from\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.southerncompany.com\/what-doing\/energy-innovation\/nuclear-energy\/milestones.cshtml\">\r\nSouthern Company&#8217;s Plant Vogtle milestones<\/a> for April 2009:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGeorgia Power provided the Westinghouse-Shaw consortium full notice\r\nto proceed on Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Shaw and Westinghouse\r\nbegan mobilizing at the plant site and performing activities to\r\nsupport construction.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe same Westinghouse-led consortium that Georgia Power\r\nhad already been suting for two years a year ago,\r\naccording to\r\nAnya Litvak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 October 2013,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/business\/businessnews\/2013\/10\/20\/Westinghouse-clashes-with-Georgia-Power-over-nuclear-plant-cost-overruns\/stories\/201310200290\">\r\nWestinghouse clashes with Georgia Power over nuclear plant cost overruns<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe project, originally estimated to cost $14 billion, is now\r\nbetween 18 and 21 months behind schedule and $900 million\r\noverbudget.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWestinghouse and its construction partner, Stone &#038; Webster, have had\r\nto make a number of changes to the original design plan that was the\r\nbasis for the 2008 contract with Georgia Power and several other\r\npart-owners. According to Westinghouse, those changes and their\r\ncosts were the result of new regulations by the Nuclear Regulatory\r\nCommission, including a requirement finalized in 2010 that buildings\r\nthat house nuclear reactors must be able to withstand an airplane\r\ncrash.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nGeorgia Power, which is owned by Atlanta-based Southern Co., says\r\ndeficiencies in Westinghouse&#8217;s designs and the contractors&#8217;\r\nexecution of the work racked up the overruns. Therefore,\r\nWestinghouse should pay the costs.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBack to the hearings:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: I guess I don&#8217;t know what form that asking has taken.\r\nWe&#8217;ve asked the question numerous times\r\nand we&#8217;ve heard that there are commercial negotiations.\r\nI don&#8217;t know what the company does.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: And if [?] is similarly situated and the owners\r\ndon&#8217;t have an IPS the same would be true.\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: I don&#8217;t know.\r\n<p>\r\ngapower: If they were similarly situated, they would be imprudent also?\r\n<p>\r\nEverett: I would say yes.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGeorgia Power then tried to deflect to what the South Carolina Public Service Commission does.\r\n<p>\r\nSomebody explain to me why elected Public Service Commissioners\r\nhave to make excuses for why they are asking questions of\r\na regulated public utility?\r\nAlso why they let a multi-billion dollar project continue\r\nwith no schedule while the utility claims it doesn&#8217;t manage\r\nthe project?\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;ve got an idea how to get the contractors to provide a schedule:\r\nstop paying them until they do!\r\n<p>\r\nThe Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article also said:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\n&#8230;a new nuclear project may be the hardest large-scale construction\r\nventure to keep on schedule and on budget, because of the cost, the\r\nregulations, and the infrequency of such events.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s another idea: let&#8217;s stop trying to do the impossible\r\nand get on with faster, cheaper, on-schedule, on-budget, and far cleaner\r\nsolar power.\r\n<p>\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two years of no integrated project schedule (IPS), Georgia Power tried to get the the elected Public Service Commissioners to tell it how to enforce a contract for Plant Vogtle that Georgia Power brought to them. This video clip ends with formerly staunch pro-nuclear Commissioner H. Doug Everett saying any company that did that [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,18,2,20,104],"tags":[372,8704,8701,8708,8699,6857,8125,8126,8702,8710,12,8122,8737,8123,107,6849,8124,1088],"class_list":["post-11885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-georgia-power","category-government","category-law","category-nuclear","tag-atlanta","tag-economy","tag-georgia","tag-georgia-power","tag-government","tag-h-doug-everett","tag-integrated-project-schedule","tag-ips","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-manage","tag-nuclear","tag-oversee","tag-plant-vogtle","tag-report","tag-rob-trokey","tag-tim-echols"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-35H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11885"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11890,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11885\/revisions\/11890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}