Troubled Georgia nuclear project seeks Trump’s aid

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump has vowed to revive America’s dying nuclear industry. Backers of a troubled Georgia nuclear project want him to prove it.
They have asked the administration to come to the aid of a project to build two reactors to the Southern Co.’s Vogtle power plant, according to people familiar with the talks. That could include increasing or speeding up disbursements of $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees to the companies behind the nuclear plant, the people said. They asked not to be identified discussing
ongoing negotiations.
A Georgia public service regulator was in Washington to make a case for the project, the last nuclear plant under construction in the US, and Southern has hosted congressional staff members at the construction site. The company also wants Congress to extend tax breaks for nuclear power. “We have asked anybody that would help us achieve the best commercial outcome possible,” Southern chief executive officer Tom Fanning said in an interview August 2.
With Southern set to tell regulators in Georgia by the end of this month whether it plans to continue with construction plans for the plant, federal support could be crucial. Last week, Southern said it estimated its portion of the cost to complete the reactors was at least $11.5 billion, excluding $1.7 billion in guaranteed payments from Toshiba. Given Southern’s 46 percent stake in the project, that would put the total cost of building the two reactors at $25 billion.
“This thing is in our national security interest,” Fanning said. “That’s why we’ve preserved the option to go forward. That’s why government has been helpful.”
After Energy Secretary Rick Perry turned down a request for $3 billion in aid for Scana Corp.’s nuclear plant in South Carolina, it’s not clear how much the federal government will help. Scana abandoned its V.C. Summer nuclear projects last month after it concluded the two reactors would end up costing it more than $20 billion to build. In general, the Trump administration has said it’s studying the nuclear issue.
“A complete review of US nuclear energy policy will help us find new ways to revitalize this crucial energy resource,” Trump said during a visit to the Energy Department earlier this summer.
The Energy Department is close to issuing a study on how to help baseload power, which is primarily coal and nuclear power. Plants using those fuels are struggling as cheap natural gas and renewable energy has kept wholesale power prices largely flat.
The request for help could be in addition to or part of the $8.3 billion loan guarantee provided by the Energy Department under the Obama administration. As of June 30, Southern has borrowed $2.6 billion through the loan guarantee pact, but disbursements from that financing agreement were put on hold until it decides if construction will continue, according to a company filing.
Oglethorp Power Corp., which has a 30 percent stake in the Vogtle project, said in a filing that its cost estimate to complete the reactors had increased from $5 billion to as much as $7.3 billion. It has withdrawn $1.7 billion of a $3.1bn loan guarantee from the federal government.