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<\/a>\r\nThree years after the U.S. government promised $8.3 billion in\r\nlending for a nuclear plant in Georgia, Southern Co. and its\r\npartners have not sealed a deal.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nPresident Barack Obama’s administration recently agreed to a fourth\r\nextension of the deadline for finalizing lending agreements between\r\nSouthern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power and the other owners of the\r\nnuclear plant now under construction. Congress authorized the\r\nfunding in 2005 to revive a nuclear industry that at the time\r\nexpected growth.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nFew utilities secured even a preliminary agreement, mostly because\r\npower companies dropped plans to build nuclear plants. The Great\r\nRecession trimmed the demand for energy, and plummeting natural gas\r\nprices made it cheaper to build gas-fired plants. The slumping\r\neconomy also pushed interest rates to historic lows, reducing\r\nborrowing costs and undercutting the need for subsidized lending.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nAll that and\r\n\r\nten nukes have been closed or cancelled in the past year<\/a>.\r\nEven France’s EDF \r\nhas exited nukes in the U.S. and has already built more U.S. solar and wind power<\/a>\r\nthan SO’s new Plant Vogtle nukes would produce.\r\n
\r\nSouthern Company now claims this federal loan guarantee isn’t necessary:\r\n
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<\/a>\r\nSouthern Co. is still pursuing the loans, though company officials\r\nsay they are not needed to finish the project. The company was able\r\nto privately borrow $4.3 billion last year at an average interest\r\nrate of less than 3 percent, Southern Co. spokesman Tim Leljedal\r\nsaid in a statement.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\n“We are committed to financing options that will serve the best\r\ninterests of our customers, and—as long as the terms and\r\nconditions of DOE loan guarantees serve those interests—we\r\nwill continue to pursue that option,” he said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nNegotiations to win federal financing for a proposed nuclear plant\r\nin Maryland fell apart. SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper applied for\r\nloan guarantees to build a nuclear plant in South Carolina, but\r\nneither company views the funding as essential.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\n“Can the company benefit from the program? In our view, yes,” said\r\nDimitri Nikas, an analyst who studies regulated utilities for the\r\nStandard and Poor’s credit rating agency. “Is it absolutely\r\ncritical? Probably not.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nIt seems to be Southern Company who’s dragging out the negotiations,\r\nbecause it doesn’t want to pay a few million in fees to get the guarantee.\r\nOK, so let’s stop offering it!\r\n
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<\/a>\r\nAbout the only reason to continue this loan farce is\r\nthat plus\r\n\r\nGA PSC’s irresponsibility in abdicating cost overrun oversight<\/a>\r\nis\r\n\r\nactively pushing people towards distributed solar power<\/a>.\r\nStill, it’s time to stop\r\n\r\nburning $20 bills to make electricity<\/a>\r\nwhen we can get it\r\n\r\nmuch more inexpensively from the sun<\/a>.\r\n