\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a>\r\nJust when we thought nuclear power might be on a comeback, well,\r\nstuff happened. Only time will tell if Georgia and South Carolina\r\ncan “jump-start” a nuclear renaissance. Let’s hope we\r\ncan, because low-cost base-load energy — the amount of\r\nelectricity available 24 hours a day — is a key to economic\r\ngrowth.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nStuff like this happened:\r\n
\r\n
- \r\nJune 2009:\r\n\r\nMoody’s called nuclear a “bet-the-farm” risk<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\nJanuary 2012:\r\n\r\nLeaks shut down San Onofre 3 and 4<\/a> in California.\r\n
- \r\nOctober 2012:\r\n\r\nDominion Power decided to close Kewaunee<\/a> in Wisconsin.\r\n
- \r\nNovember 2012:\r\n\r\nNRC denied a license for Calvert Cliffs 3<\/a> in Maryland.\r\n
- \r\n5 January 2013:\r\n\r\nDuke closed Crystal River 3<\/a>\r\n
- \r\n20 February 2013:\r\n\r\nPlant Vogtle 3 and 4 $740 million over budget and 19 months late<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\nMarch 2013:\r\n\r\nHB 267 fails (this time) to cap costs at Plant Vogtle<\/a>.\r\nYet it was introduced, which is a radical step for Georgia.\r\n
- \r\n29 April 2013:\r\n\r\nBloomberg links Kemper Coal cost overruns to Plant Vogtle cost overruns<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n8 May 2013:\r\nKewaunee ceases power production in Wisconsin<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n22 May 2013:\r\n\r\nSO CEO Tom Fanning links Kemper Coal to Plant Vogtle<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n24 May 2013:\r\n\r\nStandard & Poor’s downgraded Southern Company because of Kemper Coal and notes:<\/a>\r\n
\r\nIf the company isn\u2019t able to resolve the challenges at Mississippi\r\nPower or if similar issues arise at Georgia Power, the company\u2019s rating\r\ncould be downgraded.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n- \r\n7 June 2013:\r\nSouthern California Edison permanently closed San Onofre 3 and 4<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n3 July 2013:\r\n\r\nSouthern Company downgraded by two analysts because of coal and nukes<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n4 July 2013:\r\n\r\nDeadline extended third time for $8.33 billion federal loan guarantee for Vogtle 3 and 4<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n11 July 2013:\r\n\r\nGA PSC required 525 more megawatts of solar power by Georgia Power<\/a>,\r\ndoubling the total.\r\nThis was historic, with the GA PSC bucking formerly all-powerful Georgia Power.\r\n
- \r\n18 July 2013:\r\n\r\nGA PSC started a series of hearings on monitoring Construction Work in Progress (CWIP)\r\nfor Plant Vogtle<\/a>.\r\n
- \r\n18 July 2013:\r\n\r\nTim Echols (yes, the same Tim Echols) suggested GA PSC might cap\r\ncost overruns at Plant Vogtle<\/a>.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
\r\nAnd since Echols wrote, more stuff happened:\r\n
\r\n
- \r\n31 July 2013:\r\n\r\nSouthern Company took a $278 million write-off on Kemper Coal in Mississippi<\/a>\r\non top of its $333 million write-off in May,\r\nand SO CEO Tom Fanning said,\r\n“The most dominant thing is what\u2019s going to happen with Georgia”.\r\n
- \r\n31 July 2013:\r\n\r\nEDF of France exited U.S. nuclear<\/a>,\r\nmaybe finally ending Calvert Cliffs 3 for good.\r\n
- \r\n1 August 2013:\r\n\r\nDuke ends Levy County nuke<\/a> in Florida.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
\r\nDear Tim Echols,\r\n
\r\nYou get an A for effort for putting lipstick on the nuclear pig.\r\nBut it’s still a very \r\nlate pig that’s hogging resources we could be using to get on with solar and wind.\r\nIt’s time to insist that Georgia Power and Southern Company\r\n\r\ncome up with an exit strategy for this bad nuclear bet<\/a>.\r\n\r\n
<\/a>\r\nIt’s time to ask,\r\n\r\nas Gloria Tatum did at the Southern Company stockholder meeting in May<\/a>,\r\n
\r\n\r\nTom and gentlemen and ladies, why are you gambling the company’s\r\nfuture and the health of their environment and their citizens on\r\nantiquated, dangerous and very expensive nuclear energy, when the\r\nSoutheast is an untapped gold mine of safe, clean and cheap solar\r\nenergy. If Germany — which is a much colder country —\r\ncan meet half of their energy needs from solar in just a few years,\r\nwhy can’t Georgia?\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nNow SO CEO Tom Fanning doesn’t want “to use Europe as any of my models”,\r\nOf course he doesn’t, because Germany\r\n\r\nadded 543 MW of solar in July 2012 alone<\/a> (more than GA PSC just required\r\nof Georgia Power by 2016).\r\nPerhaps more importantly,\r\n\r\nFarmers and other people own most of Germany\u2019s renewable energy production<\/a>.\r\nThat’s right, distributed solar power could spell the end of Georgia Power’s\r\nand Southern Company’s monopolies.\r\nExcept they’ll still be needed for power distribution, and\r\nthey can take a cut to make a profit<\/a>.\r\nTheir profit may not be as big, but it’s the Georgia Public Service Commission,\r\nnot the Georgia Monopoly Maintenance Commission.\r\n