Testimony: Georgia’s nuclear expansion faces new costly delays
Georgia Power’s massive expansion of a nuclear power plant is falling further behind schedule, likely costing $2 million for each additional day of delay, according to written testimony released Monday by outside monitors and staff for the state.
Independent construction monitor William Jacobs testified that the schedule for the two new units at Plant Vogtle south of Augusta is so uncertain that “it is impossible to determine a reasonable forecast range as to when the Units could be commercially available.”
He said he believes the units will be delayed beyond the current schedule of December 2017 for the first unit and December 2018 for the second. Those dates are already 21 months later than initially planned for the nation’s first newly licensed nuclear power units in three decades.
Brian Green, a spokesman for Georgia Power, said the target dates to put the units in service hasn’t changed from 2017 and 2018.
“We believe the project remains overwhelmingly positive,” he said.
There is concern among some consumer and environmental advocates that the company might try to pass some additional costs on to consumers if the project’s contractors don’t cover extra costs tied to delays.
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Matt Kempner is an award-winning journalist who seeks out intriguing twists about people and subjects beyond what the AJC might typically cover. A former columnist and editor, his past assignments have included business investigations, energy, the economy, entrepreneurs, big business, consumer spending, politics, government and the environment.
