Ratepayer/Taxpayers

The Financial Burden of New Nuclear Power Plants
The nuclear power industry and utilities companies know how risky and expensive nuclear power plants really are.  Despite their marketing schemes touting cheap power, nuclear investors will not commit without making ratepayers and taxpayers liable at every stage of the process, including the pre-construction costs of new nuclear plants.


Federal Loan Guarantees:  The public was saddled with taking on the financial risk of new nuclear power plants when congress allocated $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees.   
The Government Accountability Office estimates that the average risk of default for DOE loan guarantees is about 50 percent. According to a Union of Concerned Scientist report that is based on various proposed scenarios for new nuclear plant construction, the potential risk exposure to taxpayers could range from $360 billion to $1.6 trillion ; a high price for the proposed new nuclear plants across the United States.


CWIP:  North and South Carolina are under the Construction Work In Progress law which gives the utilities companies Duke and Progress Energy the right to charge their customers for the pre-construction of new nuclear plants. So in the case of Duke’s proposed W.S. LEE in Gaffney, SC, the rates of North Carolina customers are being raised to pay for construction costs of a project that is still waiting for operating license approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission which can be a 5 year process.  Building the new nuclear plant can take 10-12 years on average so many senior citizens will never get an ounce of energy from their rate increases.  In addition, new construction can fall apart with money problems, construction delays, etc. Imagine building a home, paying for it up front and having to wait 10 years to move in at a higher price.


Annual Rate Hikes:  Duke Energy’s CEO has publicly stated that without the expansion of the CWIP laws new nuclear plants are not affordable.  They have  been lobbying our NC legislators (not a bill yet) to let them automatically raise rates every year for new plants – with very limited review by the Commission, and on top of other rate hikes. This enhanced CWIP provision would create annual rate hikes that continue for years before plants are even completed – which will be in 2023 at the earliest.
The state of Florida already has this law which the public and officials are trying to reverse. Florida republican Senator Mike Fasana who initially voted for the law is now helping to repeal it. He has sent letters to our Governor and NC Legislatures warning of the consequences : “We’ve learned the hard way in Florida that allowing utilities to recover the costs of a new power plant before [it is built] is unfair to consumers and bad public policy.”

For more information and to learn how you can take action, go to http://www.consumersagainstratehikes.org/
For information on loan guarantees, go to   http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9662