{"id":452,"date":"2012-10-02T10:43:54","date_gmt":"2012-10-02T14:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/southern-companys-three-legged-nuclear-regulatory-capture-stool.html"},"modified":"2012-10-02T10:43:54","modified_gmt":"2012-10-02T14:43:54","slug":"southern-companys-three-legged-nuclear-regulatory-capture-stool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/southern-companys-three-legged-nuclear-regulatory-capture-stool.html","title":{"rendered":"Southern Company’s three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nThe\n\nfailed EDF nuke project at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland<\/a>\nmakes it clearer why Southern Company (SO) was the first company\nto get a nuclear permit in 30 years:\nit was the only one big enough and monopolistic enough to pull it off.\nEven then it’s such a\n\nbet-the-farm risk<\/a>\nthat even\n\n“great, big company”<\/a>\nSO only dared\nto deploy its\n\n“great big huge scale<\/em>“<\/a> equipment\nwith the regulatory capture triple-whammy\nof\na stealth tax<\/a> on Georgia Power bills,\nPSC approval of cost overruns<\/a>,\nand\nan $8.33 billion federal loan guarantee:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

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  1. \n<\/a>\n\n<\/a>\n\na legislated<\/a>\nstealth tax in the form of\n\na rate hike on Georgia Power customers<\/a> for\npower they won’t get for years if ever.\nIf you’re a Georgia Power customer,\nlook on your bill for Nuclear Construct Cost Recovery Rider.\nYou’ll find it adds about 5% on top of your Current Service Subtotal.\nGeorgia is one of only a handful of states where such a\nConstruction Work in Progress (CWIP) charge is legal\n\nthanks to our regulatory-captured legislature.<\/a>\nDoubling down on bad energy bets,\nSouthern Company is also\n\ntrying to use CWIP to build a coal plant in Mississippi.<\/a>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n<\/a>\n\n<\/a>\nA captive Public Service Commission that\n\nrubber-stamps costs<\/a> for Plant Vogtle.\nIn case there was any doubt as to the PSC’s role in legitimizing those new nukes,\nthe very next day Fitch reaffirmed Southern Company’s bond ratings.\n
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    \nSouthern Company’s regulated utility subsidiaries derive predictable\ncash flows from low-risk utility businesses, enjoy relatively\nfavorable regulatory framework in their service territories, and\nexhibit limited commodity price risks due to the ability to recover\nfuel and purchased power through separate cost trackers.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nTranslation: Georgia Power customers subsidize SO’s bonds\nand SO shareholders’ stock dividends.\nThe PSC also approved\ncost overruns<\/a> being\npassed on to Georgia Power customers,\nand those nukes are already over\n\n$400 or $900 million<\/a>, depending on who you ask.\nWhat do you expect when\n\n4 out of 5 Public Service Commissioners\napparently took 70% of their campaign contributions from utilities\nthey regulate or their employees or their law firms,<\/a>\nand the fifth commissioner took about 20% from such sources?\nHm, there’s an election going on right now!\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n<\/a>\n\n<\/a>\nAn\n\n$8.33 billion federal loan guarantee.<\/a>\nEven that’s not good enough for SO and Georgia Power: SO is\nasking for less down payment.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \nAnd what if even one of that three-legged regulatory capture stool’s legs\nwent away?\n\n\nIf we elect new Public Service Commissioners and legislators this year,\none or both of the Georgia legs could get revoked.\n\n<\/a>\nAnd if we lobby Congress and the federal government, maybe that\nfederal loan guarantee, which apparently has never been finalized,\nmight never get finalized.\nThen we could stop\n\npouring money down that rathole on the Savannah River<\/a>\nand get on with\nefficiency<\/a>,\nwind<\/a> power,\nand\nsolar power,\nboth\n\nutility scale<\/a>,\nsuch as\n\nGaSU’s 90MW proposal,<\/a>\nand\n\ndistributed rooftop,<\/a>\nsuch as\n\nAustin Energy pioneered way back in 2003.<\/a>\n

    \n\n<\/a>\nIf\n\nCobb EMC can switch from coal to solar<\/a>,\nGeorgia Power and Southern Company can switch from nuclear to\nefficiency, wind, and solar.\nGeorgia Power’s\n\nadditional 210 MW solar<\/a>\nis a move in the right direction, but still a baby step.\n<\/p>\n

    \nWe’ll know SO and Georgia Power are serious about\nwhen they stop\n\ngetting in the way of changing the 1973 Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act<\/a>\n\ncatching up with the rest of country and the world<\/a>\nthat currently only permits you to sell power you generate to your\none and only\n\n<\/a>\nelectric utility at whatever rate that utility has set.\nWe need to change that law so in Georgia like in most states we can\nhave a real energy market.\nKick one of the legs out from under that three-legged\nregulatory capture stool and the nuke boondoggle will collapse,\nleaving SO and Georgia Power no excuse.\nThen the clean energy sun can rise on Georgia.\n<\/p>\n

    \nVote.\n<\/p>\n

    \n-jsq\n<\/p>\n

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    \nPS 2012-10-02 10PM: Here’s\n\na list of the legislators who voted for CWIP.<\/a>\nConsider voting for their opponents.\n<\/p>\n

    \nThe two Public Service Commission candidates challenging the incumbents are:\n