ATLANTA – The long-delayed, over-budget nuclear expansion at Plant Vogtle is heading toward commercial operation during the first quarter of next year.
Georgia Power officials announced Friday that fuel loading has begun at the first of two new reactors being built at the plant south of Augusta. The milestone marks the first new nuclear unit to be built in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
“The Vogtle 3 & 4 nuclear units represent a critical, long-term investment in our state’s energy future, and the milestone of loading fuel for Unit 3 demonstrates the steady and evident progress at the nuclear expansion site,” said Chris Womack, the Atlanta-based utility’s chairman, president, and CEO.
“These units are important to building the future of energy and will serve as clean, emission-free sources of energy for Georgians for the next 60 to 80 years.”
Whether the project would ever come to fruition was in doubt as costs and scheduling delays piled up. A project with a projected price tag of $14 billion when the Georgia Public Service Commission approved the nuclear expansion in 2009 has more than doubled.
Once expected to go into service in 2016 and 2017, Vogtle’s Unit 3 is now due to come online early next year followed by Unit 4 during the fourth quarter of 2023.
The project was delayed by a number of factors, including the bankruptcy of the original prime contractor and disruption to the construction workforce during the pandemic.
The delays and cost overruns have drawn criticism from environmental and consumer advocacy groups who argued putting more emphasis on developing renewable power and energy efficiency would save customers millions of dollars.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the green light for the start of fuel loading at Unit 3 in August.
Startup testing will begin next, designed to demonstrate the integrated operation of the primary coolant system and stream supply system at design temperature and pressure with fuel inside the reactor.
Operators will bring the plant from cold shutdown to initial criticality, synchronize the reactor to the electric grid, and systematically raise power to 100%.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – State Sen. Tyler Harper, the Republican nominee for Georgia agriculture commissioner, has picked up an endorsement from a prominent Democrat.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes threw his backing Thursday behind the seventh-generation farmer and small business owner from Ocilla.
“Tyler has a proven track record of delivering results for Georgia families and communities,” Barnes said in a prepared statement.
“Tyler will use his background and experience to fight for our farmers, producers, and consumers across Georgia and advance our state’s No.-1 industry.”
“Even though Governor Barnes and I may not see eye to eye on every policy position, I look forward to our continued work together to ensure the Georgia agriculture industry is successful,” Harper added.
Harper was elected to the Georgia Senate a decade ago and chairs the chamber’s Natural Resources and the Environment Committee.
He entered the race for agriculture commissioner when incumbent Republican Gary Black announced he was leaving the post to run for the U.S. Senate. Harper won the GOP nomination last May unopposed.
Harper is being opposed in the Nov. 8 general election by Democrat Nakita Hemingway, a cut-flower farmer from Dacula.
“Former Governor Barnes is a private citizen and has the right to support or endorse whoever he chooses,” Hemingway responded to Barnes’ endorsement of Harper. “For me, the only endorsement that matters will come from Georgia voters, so I encourage voters to educate themselves about all candidates and to form their own opinions about my opponent.”
Hemingway pointed to Harper’s sponsorship of a soil amendment bill critics said took away the power of county commissions to protect their communities from the dumping of industrial waste by chicken processing facilities. She also criticized Harper for supporting “The Freedom to Farm” bill making it harder to file nuisance suits against farmers.
While supporters said the legislation adds protection to farmers, opponents said it replaces a 1980s law that actually gave farmers greater protection.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is holding a 10-point lead over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams, according to a poll released this week.
Brian Kemp
But on spending and taxes, abortion, and gun rights, most respondents to the same survey sided with Abrams’ positions.
The poll of 1,030 likely general election voters was conducted Sept. 15-Oct. 4 by the University of Georgia on behalf of the Georgia News Collaborative (GNC), a consortium of more than 100 news organizations including Capitol Beat.
On spending and taxes, 55% of the respondents said Georgia should use its record budget surplus to increase spending in areas like education, health care and public safety. Just 31% favored using the surplus to cut taxes.
On abortion, 62% of survey respondents said they oppose the “heartbeat bill” Kemp steered through the General Assembly in 2019, which bans most abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, often as early as six weeks of pregnancy. Just 32% said they support the legislation.
On guns, 62% said they oppose a law the legislature passed this year that allows Georgians 21 and older to carry a concealed weapon in public without a license. Just 36% said they support the law.
Kemp has championed both one-time tax rebates and permanent tax cuts. This year, the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed a $1.6 billion tax rebate and the largest tax cut in Georgia history, which will gradually reduce the state income tax rate from 5.49% to 4.99% over six years, starting with the 2024 tax year. The current tax rate is 5.75%.
In addition, the governor has pledged a further $2 billion tax rebate if he wins a second term.
But most respondents to the GNC poll preferred spending the state’s huge budget surplus to improve core government services, a stand taken by Abrams and Democratic legislative leaders.
Donald Baker, who runs a heating and air conditioning business in Glynn County, said there are other ways to help low-income Georgians besides dipping into the surplus.
“I wish [politicians] would spend more money on the poor and the homeless than they would on advertising their races,” he said. “They’re spending so much money on ads. … There’s so much need out here in this country.”
Baker, however, noted he plans to vote for Kemp as well as Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger because they refused to back then-President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Most poll respondents also agreed with Abrams’ opposition to the abortion bill Kemp and GOP lawmakers passed along party lines three years ago.
Angela Brewington, a software engineer from Henry County, said the heartbeat bill went too far and that a ban on abortion after 12 weeks would be more reasonable.
“These are not my views, personally, on abortion of what choices I would make,” Brewington said. “But I don’t think that the state has a right to have a six-week ban. You barely know that you’re even pregnant at six weeks.”
Most respondents to the GNC survey also objected to the permit-less carry gun legislation Republican lawmakers passed this year with Kemp’s backing.
Aaron Williams of McDonough, who works for a telecommunications company, said the gun law should have excluded weapons of war.
“I understand where the Founding Fathers were coming from with the right to keep and bear arms,” he said. “Guns don’t bother me, but AR-15s are unnecessary. Pistols, shotguns and single-shot rifles in my opinion are completely reasonable. … The argument that it’s a slippery slope that’ll lead to all guns being taken is just a smoke screen.”
Abrams said the poll was a snapshot of how voters felt at a certain point in time, which could change considering what most had to say about her positions.
“The plans and policies I’m proposing are popular,” she told reporters Thursday. “My responsibility is to make sure they show up and vote.”
While most of the poll respondents took Abrams’ side on taxes and spending, abortion and gun rights, the survey also found voters are deeply concerned about inflation, an issue Republicans in Georgia and elsewhere are using on the campaign trail and in ads to hammer Democrats.
An overwhelming 92% of survey respondents indicated the current cost of living will play a role in deciding how they will vote next month.
Nearly that many – 88% – said rising prices have had an impact on their day-to-day lives.
“I’ve got friends that had to get a second job just to make ends meet, and they’re in businesses that pay very well,” said Susan Hasel of Walton County, an assistant in a publications business.
“Our economics have crumbled,” added Sarah Simcox, a kindergarten teacher in Forsyth County. “We were thriving prior to [the Biden] administration – and now I don’t even know if we can recover.”
The GNC poll had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. It was conducted via telephone, about 90% through cellphone interviews and 10% over landline connections.
The results were weighted to represent respondents proportionally in terms of race, sex, age, and education.
Staff writer Rebecca Grapevine contributed to this report.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
DBHDD Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald announced her retirement this week.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s main behavioral health agency will soon be getting a new leader to replace Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald, who announced this week that she will retire from the role.
Fitzgerald was first appointed commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) by then-Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016. Prior to that, she served as the chief of staff and deputy commissioner at DBHDD.
DBHDD is one of the main state agencies responsible for providing social supports and care to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Georgia.
The department also plays an important role in coordinating and providing mental health services. For example, DBHDD oversaw the recent launch of the new 9-8-8 mental health crisis hotline in Georgia. And it operates five psychiatric hospitals across the state as well as community-service boards to provide local mental health services.
“With gratitude for our progress … I have decided to retire from state service at the end of the year,” Fitzgerald wrote in a note to colleagues.
Fitzgerald described some of the key changes she has seen in her decade at the agency.
“It is hard to image that a little more than 10 years ago, the state was almost exclusively reliant on institutional settings to serve individuals with mental illness or with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” she wrote.
“We have overhauled our hospital services; we have made significant investments in a community-based system of crisis services … and we have led the country with our commitment to peer-led recovery.”
Gov. Brian Kemp will nominate a new commissioner. Kemp’s pick will have to be approved by the agency’s nine-member board, which is next scheduled to meet on Dec. 8.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Port of Savannah experienced a strong first quarter of the fiscal year.
But there were signs toward the end of the quarter of a slowdown in demand, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Thursday.
Savannah handled more than 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo in July, August, and September, up 9.6% over the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
“A high number of ad hoc vessel calls, the addition of three new Mediterranean services, and one new service to Asia contributed to the growth,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director.
“Additionally, our regular services have been arriving with significantly more cargo destined for Savannah.”
However, container volumes last month were off by 7.6% compared to September of last year. A nearly three-day suspension of service related to Hurricane Ian affected September volumes at the Port of Savannah.
GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten said economic factors also have begun to slow the port’s business.
“We’re expecting a gradual easing in demand based on several factors, including a shift in the balance of consumer spending away from goods back to services and the impact of inflation on the economy,” he said.
“After having increased trade at a compound annual growth rate of 14% over the past two fiscal years, this change will represent a return to a more typical rate of growth for GPA.”
A silver lining in the anticipated easing in demand is that the Port of Savannah expects to clear a backlog of vessels waiting at anchor by the end of next month. Currently, about 204,600 containers are on the water headed for Savannah, down from a record high of 262,500 in July.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
