As reported by the Augusta Chronicle, construction schedule delays at the Vogtle 3 and 4 new reactor project in Georgia will add to the price tag at a whopping rate of $2 million per day! State ratepayer advocates now estimate a one-year delay in reactor start up, which amounts to a $730 million add-on to the already multi-billion dollar cost.
Under Georgia's Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) law, ratepayers are forced to pay for the constructions costs with a surcharge on their electricity bills. This practice is illegal in most other states.
In addition to gouging ratepayers, Vogtle 3 & 4 is also gouging federal taxpayers. The Obama administration awarded an $8.3 billion loan, and loan guarantee, to the project -- Southern Co. and its partners have not one cent of skin in the game. Talk about a financial "moral hazard," with a radiological twist! Let's hope the scheme doesn't "meltdown," and the investment turn "radioactive"!
In fact, the Vogtle 3 & 4 federal loan guarantee amounts to 15 times more federal taxpayer money than was lost in the Solyndra solar scandal. And, Vogtle 3 & 4 are actually more at risk of defaulting on their loan repayment than was Solyndra!