by Dave Williams | Aug 3, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has signed off on a critical step leading up to fuel loading at the first of two new nuclear reactors being built at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle.
The commission has confirmed in a letter to Southern Nuclear, which is managing the project, that the new unit has been constructed and will be operated in conformance with NRC regulations.
“Today’s finding by the NRC helps ensure we have met our commitment to building Vogtle 3 & 4 with the highest safety and quality standards,” Chris Womack, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power, said Wednesday.
“These new units remain a strong long-term investment for this state, and, once operating, are expected to provide customers with a reliable and resilient, clean, emission-free source of energy for the next 60 to 80 years.”
The NRC finding means the first new reactor at the nuclear plant south of Augusta is on track to go into service next March after years of delays and cost overruns.
During the next several weeks, technicians will continue work required to support loading fuel, which is already onsite, into the unit’s reactor.
Several months of startup testing will follow, designed to demonstrate the integrated operation of the primary coolant system and steam supply system at design temperature and pressure with fuel inside the reactor.
Operators also will bring the plant from cold shutdown, systematically raising power to 100%.
Originally expected to be completed in 2016 and 2017, the project has encountered a series of delays, each adding to the price tag.
A key factor in the delays was the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric, originally the prime contractor for the project. Pandemic-delayed work slowdowns also played a role.
Originally estimated at $14 billion, the project’s cost has more than doubled.
The second new reactor at Vogtle is now forecast for completion during the last quarter of next year.
The delays and cost overruns have prompted the project’s critics to argue Georgia Power could have saved customers billions of dollars by abandoning the nuclear expansion and taken a more aggressive approach toward developing renewable energy.
“Delays, errors and cost overruns have plagued this failed project from the start of construction,” said Glenn Carroll, coordinator of Nuclear Watch South.
“Loading nuclear fuel into this untested reactor design is a risky step that may well proceed similarly, with yet more ominous ramifications upon actual start up.”
Georgia Power officials have countered that nuclear power is an important part of a balanced portfolio of energy generating sources.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Dave Williams | Aug 3, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has agreed to debate incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock Oct. 14 in Savannah.
For weeks, Warnock has been criticizing Walker for not agreeing to a specific schedule of debates. Walker has responded by saying said he would be ready to debate his opponent but only under “fair and equitable” terms.
The one-hour Savannah debate will take place before a live audience of about 500.
“I’m not going to obey the demands of the elite press and the liberal establishment to stand in an empty room for a debate that is supposed to be about the people,” Walker said in a video statement released Tuesday night.
“I accepted a debate that’s about the voters. I’m leaving the media elite behind and taking my message right to the people.”
Warnock campaign manager Quentin Fulks said the senator would like to see more than one debate.
“Two months ago, Reverend Warnock accepted invitations to three well-established Georgia debates in Atlanta, Savannah, and Macon to be broadcast statewide, after Herschel Walker said he would debate Reverend Warnock anywhere, anytime,” Fulks said.
“Nothing has changed. Reverend Warnock remains committed to debating Herschel Walker and giving Georgians three opportunities to see the clear choice about who is ready to represent Georgia.”
If only the Oct. 14 debate takes place, it would be in a Republican-friendly area of the state and away from metro Atlanta, which Warnock dominated on the way to his election victory in January of last year. However, Savannah also is Warnock’s hometown.
The Savannah debate will be televised by Fox 5 Atlanta, the Nexstar Media Group markets serving Georgia in Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Spartanburg, S.C., and Dothan, Ala. It also will air on the Sinclair-owned stations in Macon and Albany.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Dave Williams | Aug 3, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp Wednesday extended the latest temporary suspension of the state’s gasoline sales tax that had been due to expire late next week.
Kemp issued two executive orders, one extending the sales tax suspension and the other renewing the governor’s state of emergency declaration related to supply chain disruptions.
Kemp blamed the Biden administration for both rising prices and supply chain woes.
“With 40-year high inflation, gas prices that are still far too high, and supply chains strained under the weight of bad decisions, hardworking residents of the Peach State have been feeling the consequences of Joe Biden’s recession long before it was announced,” Kemp said.
“We can’t fix everything Washington has broken, but we’re doing our part to combat the economic headwinds caused by the president’s failed policies.”
Gasoline prices have come down significantly during the last several weeks. Currently, the price of a gallon of gas in Georgia is about 45 cents below the national average, according to AAA.
The Georgia Ports Authority recently reported ending fiscal year 2022 at the end of June with a record-high cargo volume despite the pandemic.
“I, along with the strong and dedicated leaders of the Georgia General Assembly, will continue to fight for our fellow Georgians and do all we can to ease the financial burdens they’re facing through no fault of their own,” Kemp said.
“We will also push back against new, reckless spending plans and continue to call on the Biden administration to reverse the disastrous course it has set us on as an entire country, so that it cannot drag down the No.-1 state for business.”
President Joe Biden has called attention to falling oil prices in recent weeks and has called on oil companies to pass the lower costs on to American consumers. The president has blamed supply chain disruptions primarily on the war in Ukraine and profit taking by oil companies.
The General Assembly initially suspended collection of the gasoline sales tax in March. Kemp then extended the suspension in May, at the beginning of last month, and again on Wednesday.
The latest temporary suspension is due to expire Sept. 12.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Staff Writer | Aug 2, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA –The Georgia Department of Revenue issued new guidance Tuesday explaining how the state’s new abortion law will affect taxes.
The so-called “heartbeat law” bans most abortions in Georgia after about six weeks of pregnancy. It also redefines “person” to include an unborn child, with implications for a number of areas of Georgia law, including taxes.
“The department will recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat … as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption,” the department said in a news release.
Any taxpayer who is carrying an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat can claim the child as a dependent for the current tax year. The exemption is $3,000 for each unborn child.
For the 2022 tax year, the law applies to any taxpayer carrying an unborn child with detectable heartbeat between July 20, 2022, when the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Georgia abortion law, and Dec. 31, 2022.
The revenue department said taxpayers could be asked to provide medical or other supporting documentation to prove the presence of an unborn child.
The department said it will issue additional guidance on the new law later this year.
Abortion opponents in Georgia see the new definition of personhood as a key victory and innovation.
“Personhood … is extremely important because we are the first in the country to get this passed and … upheld,” said Martha Zoller, executive director of the Georgia Life Alliance.
But others contend the new definition of person may have unintended consequences. It could result in higher insurance expenses for pregnant women, said Carliss Chatman, an associate professor of law at Washington and Lee University.
“What stops an insurance provider from declaring that there are now two separate people?” Chatman asked. The insurer could charge two deductibles (for the mother and unborn child) from six weeks of pregnancy, she said.
The new law could also have implications for immigration and birthright citizenship, Chatman said.
“If one can claim the child on Georgia state taxes when there is a fetal heartbeat, is Georgia also acknowledging the citizenship of that fetus at six weeks?”
Although the abortion law was upheld by the federal circuit court last month, it is now being challenged in state court on privacy and other grounds. The next hearing in the matter is set for Monday in Fulton County Superior Court.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
by Staff Writer | Aug 1, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The state ethics commission voted Monday to move forward with a full hearing on whether a group founded by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams and its affiliated action fund violated campaign finance laws.
At the center of the dispute is whether the activities of the New Georgia Project and an affiliated fund were sufficiently political in nature to require registering as campaign and ballot committees under Georgia law.
Founded in 2013, the New Georgia Project is registered as a 501(c)(3) organization under Internal Revenue Service rules. The New Georgia Action Fund is registered as a 501 (c)(4) group.
The two groups focused on registering voters in Georgia and getting voters to the polls.
Such charitable and social-welfare groups are not required to disclose detailed information about donations and expenditures. There are limits on their political activities.
A complaint filed with the ethics commission alleges the two groups crossed the line into political activity and failed to register as campaign committees under Georgia campaign finance law.
Campaign committees must file public documents listing details of their donations and expenditures.
The groups advocated for electoral candidates, namely gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams and other Democrats, in 2017 and 2018, said Joseph Cusack, staff attorney for the commission.
Cusack pointed to campaign literature that called on people to vote for Abrams and other Democrats distributed by New Georgia Project canvassers.
The materials were labeled as being supported by the New Georgia Project. Cusack also pointed to scripts canvassers used asking people to vote for Abrams and identifying the New Georgia Project.
The groups were operating as independent committees, should have registered as such, and should have filed detailed campaign disclosure reports, said Cusack.
Aria Branch, one of the lawyers for the New Georgia Project, said the groups had contracted out their canvassing operation to another group, PowerPAC. When the canvassers were handing out these materials, they were acting on behalf of PowerPAC under that organization’s contract with New Georgia Project, said Branch.
Branch also argued the ethics commission had not provided sufficient evidence to directly tie New Georgia Project’s spending to advocacy for certain candidates.
Cusack went on to maintain the two New Georgia groups should also have registered as ballot committees during their work in Gwinnett County in 2019. They encouraged Gwinnett voters to vote for MARTA expansion in a referendum that year, he said.
Monday’s preliminary hearing sought to establish whether there are reasonable grounds to proceed with a full hearing.
The commission determined that there were reasonable grounds, meaning a full hearing will be held in the future, although it may not be for months.
The case has been pending since 2019.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
