Georgia Power customers to pay $7.56B of Vogtle $10.2 billion overruns - FOX 5 Atlanta
Georgia Power customers to pay $7.56B of Vogtle $10.2 billion overruns
Georgia Power to raise rates again
Georgia Power customers, your energy bill is about to go up again. The utility company is bringing two nuclear reactors online. State regulators approved a plan to let Georgia Power pass the cost onto you the consumer. That’s on top of rate hikes the company pushed through earlier this year.
ATLANTA - Georgia Power customers’ energy bills are about to go up again. The utility company is bringing two new nuclear reactors online. State regulators on Tuesday approved a plan to let Georgia Power pass the cost onto consumers. This is on top of rate hikes the company pushed through earlier in the year.
The public service commission approved the $10.2-billion plan to cover cost overruns for the new reactors at the Vogtle plant near Augusta. The company will pay $2.63 billion. Customers will shoulder $7.56 billion.
Starting next spring, the energy bill for the average customer will increase 5%, to about $8.95 per month.
Georgia Power already pushed through two rate hikes earlier this year, raising bills to about $20 per month for the average ratepayer, hitting customers at a time when inflation is flattening, but still painful.
"Bad news," said Merci Treaster, a Georgia Power customer. "It’s another increase with everything else increasing and the cost of food and things like that."
"It hurts me a lot," said Patrick Garrett. "It’s already high enough."
Kimberly Scott, Executive Director for Georgia WAND, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental justice, says another price hike will hit many Georgians at a time when they can ill-afford it.
"It’s unreasonable. We’re experiencing so many rate increases within a short period of time," Scott said. "This would hurt quite a few people. When I look at my bill, I say what do I need to do to meet this cost monthly?"
Georgia Power sent out a statement: "We believe this decision by the Georgia PSC acknowledges the perspectives of all parties involved and takes a balanced approach that recognizes the value of this long-term energy asset for the state of Georgia and affordability needs for customers."
The rate increase is set to go into effect March 31.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.