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DOE Offers Another $3.7 Billion in Loan Guarantees for Vogtle Project

September 30, 2017

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement that the “future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright” as his agency on September 29 announced another $ 3.7 billion in loan guarantees for continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has guaranteed another $ 1.67 billion to Georgia Power, $ 1.6 billion to Oglethorpe Power, and $ 415 million to three subsidiaries of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia. The money is in addition to $ 8.3 billion already guaranteed by the DOE to support construction of the two AP1000 reactors at the plant near Waynesboro, Georgia. The long-delayed project to add two new units to the two existing reactors at Vogtle has been plagued by construction problems and cost overruns; the current timeline to complete construction is now near the end of 2022. Analysts say the cost for the project will go well above $ 20 billion.…

Mississippi Power Will Absorb Costs for Failed Kemper Gasification Project

August 23, 2017

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A settlement Mississippi Power reached on August 21 with stakeholders of the Kemper County facility will ensure customers won’t be subjected to rate increases associated with the now-abandoned gasification portion of the project. While that will affect revenues, the resolution could soften controversy surrounding the project and avoid protracted legal and financial turmoil, the company said.

Mississippi Power reached the settlement with Denbury Resources—the company under contract to buy all the project’s captured carbon, and which had already built a 61-mile carbon dioxide pipeline—along with three advocacy groups: the Central Mississippi Building and Construction Trades Council, the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., and the Ministerial Alliance Partnership.

It essentially provides that the annual revenue requirement—which is necessary to cover the power company’s expenses and have the opportunity to earn a fair rate of return—for the 2018 Kemper IGCC–related costs would be $ 126 million, resulting in no rate increase for customers now or in the future. It also proposes to modify the project’s 2010-awarded certificate of public convenience and necessity to limit the facility to operations of the natural gas combined cycle power plant, which was completed in 2014.…

Toshiba Will Pay $2.2 Billion to Exit Summer Nuclear Project

July 29, 2017

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SCANA Corp. and state-owned utility Santee Cooper on July 27 said Toshiba has agreed to pay nearly $ 2.2 billion to cap its liabilities from the unfinished V.C. Summer nuclear project in South Carolina. Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse, which was building two nuclear units at the Summer site along with the troubled Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia, filed for bankruptcy in March.

Toshiba reached a similar $ 3.7 billion agreement with Southern Co. in June as it seeks to limit its liabilities from the Vogtle project. Both AP1000 nuclear projects are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Decision on Summer’s Future Expected Soon

SCANA, represented by principal subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G), and Santee Cooper in a statement on July 27 said they expect the cost to complete the Summer plant will “materially exceed” both Westinghouse’s estimates for completion and the payments from Toshiba, outlined as $ 2.168 billion over a five-year period. SCANA and Santee Cooper said they expect to decide soon whether they will continue with Summer’s construction, modify the project, or abandon it.…

Vogtle, V.C. Summer Project Owners Buy More Time to Mull Fate of Nuclear Units

May 1, 2017

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The owners of the Vogtle and V.C. Summer nuclear expansions separately secured a few more weeks to allow work to continue onsite at each project while they decide how to proceed with the half-built AP1000 reactors after Westinghouse’s financial debacle.

In Georgia, owners of the project to expand Plant Vogtle extended an interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse until May 12. But Georgia Power’s parent company Southern Co. also revealed it is negotiating a new service agreement that could engage Westinghouse to provide design, engineering, and procurement services in the event Southern Nuclear Operating Co.—Southern Co.’s nuclear unit operations arm—takes over management of construction at Units 3 and 4.

And in South Carolina, owners of the project to expand V.C. Summer extended a similar agreement through June 26. The project owners detailed their concerns and options in a recent ex parte briefing at the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC)

Vogtle Agreement Extended Until May 12

Georgia Power and Vogtle’s other owners on April 28 extended an interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse before it was set to expire, giving them until May 12 to assess the project.…

Tube Leaks Cause Latest Delay to Kemper Project

March 20, 2017

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The Kemper County Energy Facility will not reach full operation by its latest mid-March deadline, project owner Southern Company subsidiary, Mississippi Power announced March 16 in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“On March 9, 2017, Mississippi Power experienced certain tube leaks in one of the syngas coolers for gasifier ‘A’ and commenced an outage on gasifier ‘A’ to perform necessary corrective actions. As a result, Mississippi Power no longer expects the remainder of the Kemper IGCC will be placed in service by mid-March 2017,” the filing says.

The Kemper County Energy Facility, a new-build, integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant located near Meridian, Mississippi, is currently three years behind schedule and $ 4.7 billion over budget. Once completed, the plant will employ two gasifiers and a carbon capture system to burn low-rank Mississippi lignite with emissions roughly equal to those of a natural gas plant.

As of the company’s last monthly SEC filing, the plant was expected to reach full operation by mid-March, following several delays over the course of the last few months.…