The Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project is being managed without a long-term, realistic construction schedule that Georgia Power and its vendors have agreed on, according to a utility watchdog.
As a result, Georgia Power may be spending money unnecessarily in the short term, which could lead to higher customer bills in the long term, said William Jacobs, Vogtle's independent construction monitor.
"You could be spending additional money that you don't need to spend," Jacobs said at a recent Georgia Public Service Commission hearing. "You don't really know how to apply your resources."
Georgia Power said the current short-term schedule is working. The lack of a long-term plan hasn't negatively impacted the project, which is about one-third finished, Georgia Power spokesman Mark Williams said.
"We understand Dr. Jacobs' point on this, but the work is moving forward, and things are being done on a scheduled basis," Williams said. "We do have a schedule that we work from."
The Vogtle reactors have slipped seven months past their scheduled opening dates of April 2016 and 2017. Jacobs warned of additional delays at the PSC hearing but did not provide details.
The $14 billion project is so complex that a succinct long-term project schedule is necessary to prevent further delays and cost overruns, he said. Right now, the project is being managed in short-term stints of 60 or 90 days, which Jacobs said is inefficient.
Georgia Power said a long-term schedule won't be in place until the company resolves a separate $400 million billing dispute with its main vendors, Westinghouse and the Shaw Group. The company remains adamant that it is not responsible for that $400 million issue, caused by regulatory delays.
At issue: when Georgia Power's parent, Atlanta-based Southern Co., received approval from federal nuclear regulators to begin major construction at Vogtle, near Waynesboro. The main construction license, the first one granted in nearly 30 years, came about six months later than originally expected, kicking off a series of delays.
Other unrelated early delays at the site, specifically the inability of the Shaw Group to design and build reactor components -- modules -- and deliver them on time, have led to increased costs.
Despite the warnings of cost increases, Georgia Power's $6.1 billion portion of the project is tracking $28 million under budget. The utility must seek PSC approval if it wants to increase the cost of the project and recoup that money from customers.
