What happened to all those federal loan guarantees that would make it easy for utilities to get a loan and then charge customers AFTER the nuke was built, when electricity was actually being PROVIDED?????
Florida ratepayers have filed a lawsuit against Progress Energy Florida for charging its customers for the planned construction of two nuclear reactors even as the company CEO expressed doubts about the project’s future.
Progress Energy Inc. customers are paying construction costs for two reactors proposed for Levy County, which is along the Gulf of Mexico. The company has collected about $200 million in advance of the project, which Citizens for Ratepayers Rights claims is unconstitutional.
The Florida Legislature in 2006 allowed utilities to collect funds in the form of electricity rate increases to pay upfront costs of new nuclear construction. The Florida Public Service Commission approved cost recovery for Progress Energy’s and Florida Power & Light Co.’s new reactor construction last October (E&ENews PM Oct. 16, 2009).
Progress Energy has estimated building the two reactors at Levy County will cost about $17 billion, although that price is likely to grow, given project delays. The reactor the company plans to use, the Westinghouse AP1000, is drawing scrutiny from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which asked Westinghouse to redesign a shielding wall before the agency can continue reviewing the reactor’s design certification.
“We tried everything to get someone to listen — the Governor, House, Senate, PSC, Attorney General — anyone that would help stop the madness of allowing $17 billion to be collected by Progress with no requirement that any service be provided nor the nuclear plant even be built at all,” said Suzan Franks, founder of Citizens for Ratepayers Rights, in a statement.