ATLANTA – Georgia Power would be allowed to pass on to customers $2.1 billion of the costs of completing the first of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle under a stipulation agreement outlined Thursday.
But the Atlanta-based utility wouldn’t be permitted to start recovering those costs until one month after the reactor unit goes into commercial operation, next June under the current completion schedule.
“Neither party to the stipulation received everything it wanted, but instead what staff believes is a fair and just compromise,” Steven Roetger, an analyst with the Georgia Public Service Commission’s (PSC) Public Interest Advocacy (PIA) Staff, told commissioners during a hearing on the agreement.
The PSC voted in August to stop approving incremental cost increases incurred at the long-delayed, over-budget nuclear expansion at the plant south of Augusta. Instead, commissioners have opted to postpone deciding how much of the cost overruns Georgia Power customers will have to bear until after Unit 3, the first of the two new reactors, is completed.
The project, originally projected to cost $14 billion, has ballooned to at least $26 billion.
At the same time, the completion dates have been postponed from 2016 for the first unit and 2017 for the second until 2022 and 2023, due in part to the bankruptcy of prime contractor Westinghouse and, more recently, to workforce shortages arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Representatives of Georgia Power and the PIA Staff signed off on the stipulation agreement on Wednesday.
Under a key provision in the agreement, Georgia Power will not be allowed to pass on to customers any of the nearly $1.5 billion guarantee Japan-based Toshiba – the parent company of Westinghouse – committed to the project until after the commission decides how much of that guarantee has been spent prudently.
The agreement also for the first time gives the PSC the right to review all operating and maintenance expenses associated with Unit 3 following its completion if the reactor is not performing up to expectations.
In that case, Georgia Power would have to prove that any electrical production that falls below the expected 1,102 megawatts of generating capacity was not the result of “unreasonable or imprudent” construction.
“One of the major concerns we had was performance reliability,” Roetger testified Thursday. “We felt it was necessary to provide this commission an opportunity to review … all of the costs.”
During cross-examination of Roetger and two Georgia Power executives, lawyers for big industrial customers and environmental and consumer advocacy groups complained the agreement would let Georgia Power raise customer rates following the completion of Unit 3 next summer at the same time the utility already is scheduled to file its next regular rate case with the PSC.
“Predictability in budgeting … can be essential for businesses trying to navigate a challenging economy,” said Clay Jones, a lawyer representing the Georgia Association of Manufacturers.
Residential customers under the stipulation agreement would see a net increase of $3.78 a month starting next July, based on the typical usage of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Liz Coyle, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch, said that’s too much to pay beginning just one month after Unit 3 goes into commercial operation when there’s no guarantee the new reactor will perform properly. She cited an example where an AP1000 reactor in China – the same technology Plant Vogtle is using – did not perform reliably for a year.
“Many Georgians, especially those living on fixed incomes, are already having difficulty paying their power bills,” Coyle said. “Even $4 more a month can be problematic in terms of making ends meet.”
Roetger said the agreement strikes a necessary balance between the interests of customers and Georgia Power.
“I understand there are people who are struggling,” he said. “But we have to look at the entire state … and make sure we have a utility that can provide safe and reliable power and is financially sound.”
The commission is scheduled to vote on the agreement Nov. 2.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
As President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan continues stalling in Congress, Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is hoping to get $10 billion included in the budget reconciliation bill for high-speed passenger rail for Georgia and the Southeast.
Last month, Ossoff wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
“As this Congress makes historic investments in America’s infrastructure, we should allocate robust resources for high-speed rail necessary to advance the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor, a long-planned project of national significance necessary to connect the fast-growing American Southeast,” Ossoff wrote. “I strongly urge the Senate’s proposal to include at least $10 billion in dedicated funding for high-speed rail planning and construction.”
Planning is currently underway for an intercity rail line between Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., with a proposed stop in Athens.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Georgia Department of Transportation, working with state transportation departments in North Carolina and South Carolina, have identified the 274-mile route as the “preferred corridor” for the Charlotte-to-Atlanta portion of a high-speed rail line that would continue northeast to Washington, D.C.
“The projected increases in population and economic growth for the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion create a need for a carefully planned approach to improving rail infrastructure that will benefit Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, the southeastern United States and the nation,” the FRA wrote in its final environmental impact report on the project released in July.
“Intercity passenger rail is available for business and non-business travelers that is competitive with other modes of travel in terms of travel time, convenience and safety.”
The co-called Greenfield Corridor Alternative chosen for the project connects Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with the planned multimodal Charlotte Gateway Station. The line would run mostly along a new dedicated alignment from northeast Atlanta to Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Ossoff is also supporting a proposed high-speed rail line connecting Atlanta to Savannah with a stop in Macon. This line would extend to Nashville, Tenn., through northeast Georgia and down to Jacksonville, Fla.
President Joe Biden, who commuted daily between his Delaware home and Washington for decades while serving in the U.S. Senate, is a passenger rail enthusiast. Biden even mentioned the Atlanta-to-Charlotte high-speed rail project in a speech last spring marking Amtrak’s 50th anniversary.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Republican Jake Evans raised more than $907,000 during the third quarter of this year in his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, Evans’ campaign reported Thursday.
Evans, former chairman of the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission, is among four Republicans looking to recapture the 6th Congressional District seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs. The GOP held the seat for decades before McBath won it in 2018.
Most of the money Evans brought in – $500,000 – came in the form of a personal loan. But he also received more than $400,000 in contributions.
“This report shows we have a deep well of support, and we’re generating excitement,” Evans said.
Another candidate in the race, former state Rep. Meagan Hanson, reported Thursday that she raised more than $300,000 during the third quarter. Hanson, who is not relying on any personal loans, received more than 1,000 donations from individual contributors, including more than 500 small-dollar donations of $25 or less.
“I’m especially proud that our effort is bolstered by small-dollar donations from families across Georgia’s 6th District,” Hanson said.
The other two candidates vying for the Republican nomination – U.S. Army veteran Harold Earls and activist Suzi Voyles – had not filed third-quarter campaign fundraising reports as of Thursday.
However, an earlier report from the Earls campaign showed he had raised more than $331,000 through the end of June.
McBath also has yet to file a third-quarter report. But the Democratic incumbent reported back in July that her reelection campaign had raised more than $1.5 million through the second quarter.
The deadline for congressional candidates to file third-quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission is Friday.
Georgia’s 6th Congressional District includes East Cobb County, Fulton County from Sandy Springs north and northern DeKalb County.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – State legislative Democrats are holding a series of events this weekend through Tuesday to pressure Gov. Brian Kemp to include Medicaid expansion in the upcoming special legislative session.
The session will convene Nov. 3 to redraw Georgia’s congressional and state House and Senate districts to accommodate population shifts during the last decade reflected in the 2020 U.S. Census.
Back in July, House Democratic Deputy Whip Matthew Wilson, D-Atlanta, sent a letter to Kemp that was co-signed by 67 other state lawmakers, in which they urged Kemp to include expanding Medicaid in Georgia. Kemp has resisted similar calls in the past.
Wilson is running for Georgia insurance commissioner.
Democrats are holding press events in Augusta, Columbus, Albany, Savannah and Macon that will feature local elected officials and community advocates:
2:30pm, Friday, Oct. 15: Augusta Municipal Building
10:00am, Saturday, Oct. 16: Columbus Consolidated Government Plaza
2:30pm, Saturday, Oct. 16: Albany Government Center Plaza
10:30am, Tuesday, Oct. 19: Savannah City Hall
2:30pm, Tuesday, Oct. 19: Macon City Hall
Georgia’s Constitution provides sole discretion to the governor to set the special session’s agenda, which he can amend until legislators gavel-in on November 3.
“Fully expanding Medicaid would help bring health-care coverage to over 500,000 Georgians who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid under current state law but do not make enough to afford private health insurance,” Wilson said. “Georgia’s Medicaid program currently only covers parents making up to 30% of the federal poverty level for a family of four—less than $8,000 a year.”
Georgia is currently home to the third-most uninsured individuals among the 50 states.
Last month, during the heat of a bid to pass President Joe Biden’s now-stalled $1 trillion infrastructure plan, Georgia U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, along with U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Suwanee, pushed to include a Georgia Medicaid expansion in the budget reconciliation bill.
Georgia Democrats have sought Medicaid expansion since then-President Barack Obama steered the Affordable Care Act through a Democratic Congress in 2010 with no Republican votes.
But Georgia remains among 12 Republican-run states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid, with former Gov. Nathan Deal and now Kemp citing the program’s costs.
Kemp prefers a more limited expansion, which the Trump administration approved last year. But the new Biden administration has put that plan on hold because of concerns that it includes a work requirement for Medicaid recipients.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
In all his years of gridiron greatness, Herschel Walker never ran into anything like this.
Walker, a Georgia GOP U.S. Senate candidate, called off a major Texas fundraising event after the event’s organizer, Bettina Sofia Viviano-Langlais, used a Nazi-like image in her Twitter profile. The symbol, which has been removed from the profile, pictured four syringes arranged in the form of a swastika.
Viviano-Langlais, who goes by the moniker “Hollywood Resistance” on Twitter, has produced such films as “Jack and Hill,” starring Adam Sandler, and “Three to Tango.”
“The previously scheduled event has been called off,” Walker campaign spokesperson Mallory Blount told Capitol Beat. “Herschel is a strong friend of Israel and the Jewish community and opposes hatred and bigotry of all forms. Despite the fact that the apparent intent behind the graphic was to condemn government vaccine mandates, the symbol used is very offensive and does not reflect the values of Herschel Walker or his campaign.”
Predictably, Democrats are running hard to tackle Walker for what they call his failure to condemn an anti-Semitic symbol.
Absolutely vile – Republicans are proudly and openly displaying swastikas.
The @GOP uses antisemitism and bigotry as a political tactic, and it's a direct threat to our community, security and values. https://t.co/YVAR3DNt2e
“Herschel Walker defended a swastika, and canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact he failed to condemn a hateful, anti-Semitic symbol,” Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Dan Gottlieb said.
Walker, who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, is one of four GOP candidates seeking to unseat Democrat Raphael Warnock in 2022’s Georgia Senate race. The UGA football legend recently posted a fundraising haulof $3.7 million during the first five weeks of his campaign. Contributions came from nearly 50,000 donors from all 50 states.
This is a swastika. And it's use is unacceptable.
My guess is that Herschel's opposition won't be so unequivocal that he will decline to attend the fundraiser. https://t.co/QTnHs0YjiW
Walker entered the race in late August at Trump’s urging. The two have been friends since the 1980s, when the United States Football League team Trump owned, the New Jersey Generals, signed Walker to his first professional contract.
The other three Republican candidates for Senate so far are Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black; Latham Saddler, an Atlanta banking executive and former Navy SEAL officer; and Kelvin King, a small business owner and Air Force veteran from Atlanta.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
