The inability of Georgia Power and its vendors -- Westinghouse and The Shaw Group -- to resolve several disputes has led to other issues, which could eventually effect customer bills, according to an independent monitor hired to oversee the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.
There is no way the new reactors can start producing electricity at their scheduled start date of April 2016 and 2017 unless all of the companies agreed on a new schedule, said construction monitor William Jacobs in a report. While the company has vowed to resolve the disputes, that has not happened, Jacobs noted, warning of the possibility that the cost of the project could increase and that "the company may seek recovery from ratepayers."
The disagreements are tied to delays in getting two key permits: one that approved the reactor design and the other that allows for heavy construction to begin, Jacobs noted in his report, which covers the last six months of 2011.
Georgia Power has warned of the delays and disputes in documents filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission. The company mentioned a $400 million dispute caused by a regulatory delay in a document filed May 7 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, however, not with its recent reports filed with the PSC.
The company has not taken responsibility for the delays and the costs associated with them. However, any costs that the company does agree to pay eventually could trickle down to customers.
The reactors at Vogtle are the first to be built from scratch in 30 years, which means delays and changes could be likely, the company said.
" ... there is no contingency from which to draw upon when there are unexpected costs, as there always are on a project like this," Georgia Power spokesman Mark Williams said.
"Until the commercial issues impacting the prospective project activities are resolved, it will be difficult for the company and consortium to agree upon and fully support [a new schedule]," Jacobs said.
Even then, Jacobs said that may not happen, laying blame on the vendors.
The "... schedule may not be achievable based on the consortium's poor performance to date on many project activities," he said.
Georgia Power is part of a group of utilities building the twin reactors at Vogtle. The utility is responsible for $6.1 billion of the estimated $14 billion project.
The project is tracking $28 million under budget. Company officials have said that plus the potential of receiving production tax credits and taxpayer-backed federal loan guarantees will help save customers $2 billion in the long run.
Jacobs' heavily redacted document, filed Wednesday, was not made public until a day later.
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