AJC: Georgia’s large power users save hundreds of millions on Plant Vogtle charges

Energy justice? Not in Georgia!

As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, different classes (a most apt term!) of electricity consumers are being charged different amounts, to pay in advance for the proposed new Vogtle 3 & 4 atomic reactors, long before they generate a single kilowatt-hour of electricity, if they ever do.

The article reports:

Georgia Power’s largest commercial customers have gotten breaks worth hundreds of millions of dollars off surcharges to finance the troubled Plant Vogtle nuclear project since 2011, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis shows.

The rest of its customers — homeowners, smaller businesses and government power users such as MARTA and cities — have paid nearly 90 percent of the $1.9 billion collected so far in monthly bills to bankroll the Atlanta utility’s construction of two new nuclear reactors at the plant near Augusta. They will likely use about 70 percent of the plant’s output.

In contrast, Georgia Power’s industrial customers have paid only 12 cents out of every dollar of total Vogtle surcharges, even though they will likely use more than a fourth of the troubled expansion’s power if it is ever completed.