Do you think you should pay for Duke Energy’s coal ash cleanup and for nuclear plants that will never be built? 150 turned out to say no at a public hearing in Raleigh on Duke Energy-Progress’s nearly 17% residential rate hike request (see news reports here). If you agree with them, come speak out at the Asheville, Snow Hill or Wilmington hearing (details here and here).
Shifting Risks to Customers (CWIP)
Construction Work in Progress laws (CWIP, aka Advanced Cost Recovery, aka Annual Rate Hike Bills) allow utilities to charge customers in advance for the cost of building expensive new plants that aren’t even needed — even if those plants never go online.
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Duke Energy’s Nuclear Hopes Dim Further — NC WARN News Release
North Carolina regulators technically rejected NC WARN’s March motion on Monday but they pressed Duke Energy with the questions we raised about the viability of the effort to build twin nuclear plants in Gaffney, SC.
Two good stories on the NCUC order:
Associated Press
Charlotte Business Journal
Lawsuit targets Duke Energy Florida, FPL over higher rates for nuclear power projects — Tampa Bay Times
A class-action lawsuit was filed against Duke Energy Florida and Florida Power & Light Co. alleging the monopoly electricity providers force millions of Florida customers to pay unlawful charges in connection with their electricity rates to fund the companies’ nuclear power plant projects, some of which have been abandoned. The suit … accuses Duke Energy Florida and FPL of overcharging through unconstitutional price hikes that increase customers’ electricity bills in order to fund nuclear construction costs.
Plant Vogtle’s Price Tag Climbs to $21 Billion as Commission Experts Predict Further Delays and Cost Increases for Southern Company’s Proposed Reactors — News Release from The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
During yesterday’s day-long hearing before the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on the 13thsemi-annual Vogtle Construction Monitoring report, expert witnesses on behalf of the PSC predicted that additional delays beyond the current 39-month delay are likely for the two nuclear reactors under construction at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia along the Savannah River. Though five years into the project, only 26 percent of construction is complete.
Experts warned of nuke work overruns — Atlanta Journal Consitution
The biggest construction project in Georgia is also becoming one of the biggest budget busters in state history. And nearly every Georgian with a monthly electric bill may end up paying for it.
Trigaux: Is Duke Energy’s iron grasp on Tallahassee slipping? — Tampa Bay Times
State legislators, apparently waking from a long winter’s nap, are introducing measures that would crack down on big power companies like Duke Energy Florida that are relentlessly gouging ratepayers.
Trigaux: If you’re not mad at Duke Energy, you’re not paying attention — Tampa Bay Times
In 2014, Duke’s delivered little but calamity, especially in Florida, where customers serve as company punching bags. But even in its home state of North Carolina, Duke fumbled. Now it’s busy downplaying a horrible environmental spill of its own making. A toxic sludge of 39,000 tons of arsenic-laced coal ash and 27,000 gallons of contaminated water now coats nearly 70 miles of the once-scenic Dan River.
Strange Bedfellows to Call for Electricity Competition — News Release from NC WARN
In a state where economic, energy and environmental concerns grow more intensely intertwined, the assertive environmental nonprofit group NC WARN is working with the conservative nonprofit John Locke Foundation to sponsor two public forums calling for increased competition in the electricity market.
Get the Real Scoop on Fukushima
On November 20, 2013, Arnie Gundersen, Maggie Gundersen and Steve Wing spoke in Chapel Hill about the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, and its implications for new nuclear plants proposed by Duke Energy. View videos of the talks by the Gundersens and Dr Wing.
Watchdogs to Duke CEO: Don’t Buy into Failing Nuclear Project in South Carolina — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN today told new Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good we are astonished that Duke Energy is still considering buying into the VC Summer nuclear construction project after South Carolina regulators recently reiterated earlier warnings that the project is suffering enormous problems despite intensive efforts to correct them.