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September 2, 2010
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Monroe’s nuclear future bright
Published February 28, 2010
When President Barack Obama pledged to create more energy jobs at a Feb. 16 press conference in Maryland, standing behind him was Bob Johnston.
Who is Bob Johnston?
He’s the president and CEO of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, an energy conglomerate whose membership includes the city of Monroe.
Obama’s pledge included the conditional commitment for loans for Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4, which would go online in 2016 and 2017 if construction goals are met. The $14.5 billion project would be the first new construction of a nuclear power plant since the Carter administration and provide nuclear power to Southern Nuclear, Georgia Power Co., Oglethorpe Power Corp., Dalton Utilities and MEAG.
Later that day, MEAG Power officials told the 41 Georgia communities served by the expansion the conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy was for about $1.8 billion in loan guarantees toward construction of its share of two new units at the plant near Waynesboro. MEAG Power is a co-owner, holding a 22.7 percent share in the units.
“We are extremely honored by this vote of support by the administration,” Johnston said. “Our 41 participant communities involved in the project can take great pride in the fact that they are playing such a pivotal role in the renaissance of America’s nuclear industry.”
The Plant Vogtle Additional Units 3 and 4 will consist of two 1,100 megawatt Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors, officials said.
Monroe officials greeted the news with great optimism, saying the prospect of being able to tap into a greater pool of nuclear power would keep energy costs stable well into this century.
Brian Thompson, Monroe’s director of electric and telecommunications, said the city, the only nuclear-powered municipality in Walton, currently draws 49 percent of its power from Plant Vogtle’s current reactors and two in Plant Hatch in Baxley. However, once all of Vogtle’s four reactors dole out energy to Monroe in 2036, the city will draw up to 75 percent from them. (Hatch will be phased out by then.) The move means a more stable energy rate for Monroe utility customers and a cleaner fuel for the environment, Thompson said.
In addition to the nearly 50 percent the city draws from nuclear energy, Monroe is powered by coal (33 percent), gas (8.15 percent) and hydro (8.13 percent). To use these power sources, costs such as transportation and supply fluctuate, meaning city energy bills also ebb and flow.
The city has committed $52 million over a 60-year period toward the project. However, Thompson said 20 years of the funding is covered through an agreement reached with MEAG and another power company. According to MEAG Power documents, the authority has entered into 20-year sales contracts with Jacksonville Electric Authority and PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, two consumer-owned electric utilities which are located in Jacksonville, Fla., and Andalusia, Ala., respectively.
MEAG Power will sell about 40 percent of its share of the output in the proposed nuclear expansion to JEA and about 25 percent to PowerSouth for a 20-year term. JEA and PowerSouth have agreed to share in the construction and operating risks relating to their purchased share of the output during the term of the contracts, MEAG officials said.
“We’re going to have that protection until we need it and (JEA and PowerSouth) is going to pay for it until we need it,” Thompson said.
Thompson said another plus of the Obama administration plan is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s new combined operating license program to help prevent delays that effectively halted new nuclear-based projects in the 1980s.
Previously it took years for utility companies to get a license to operate a nuclear plant and changing regulations would bury the projects under red tape.
The program will now authorize construction and operation of the reactors while companies get a license, according to published reports.
But not everyone is pleased to see the nation become more reliant on nuclear energy.
“The twin nuclear reactors in Burke County, Ga., would be financed with $5.4 billion in loans from the Federal Financing Bank with money of the U.S. Treasury. According to the GAO, this investment has a 50/50 percent or worse chance of failing. President Obama wants taxpayers to assume 80 percent of the financial risk to turn the southeast Atlantic states into a big open-pit radioactive barbeque. This investment is a terrible idea — President Obama’s worst yet,” said Lisa Green, Green candidate for the California Assembly, in a statement.
“If built, the plant will be a financial disaster because of high construction expenses and likely cost overruns, compared with other sources of electrical power. As the first of a new generation of nuclear power plants, it’ll carry huge technical risks.
“Even more ominous is the problem of mining, waste storage, and waste transportation through populated areas, which carry huge public health dangers.”
Thompson scoffed at the idea of public health dangers.
“What you have had in the (1970s) was Three Mile Island and everybody got scared,” Thompson said, noting the massive safety measures put in place to make sure another nuclear reactor meltdown disaster does not occur.
“Now you have these plants which are safe.”
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