Dr. Mark Cooper: The Failure of the Nuclear Gamble in South Carolina
Regulators can save consumers billions by pulling the plug on Summer 2 & 3, already years behind schedule and billions over budget; things are likely to get much worse if the project continues.
So warns Dr. Mark Cooper, in a new report. Cooper is Senior Fellow for Economic Analysis at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School.
Cooper prepared this report on behalf of Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club, in support of their complaint before the South Carolina Public Service Commission.
Friends of the Earth issued a press release. It contains links to Dr. Cooper's report; a Summary of Key Findings; and the Complaint filed on June 22, 2017 by Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club with South Carolina Public Service Commission, linked under “matters” in Docket 2017-207-E (Dr. Cooper serves as the two groups' expert witness on this Complaint).
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The Associated Press has reported on this story, as published in the New York Times. The article quotes FOE senior advisor, Tom Clements:
Under South Carolina law, the utilities were allowed to charge ratepayers for construction costs before the reactors were finished. The nuclear project now accounts for 18 percent of the electric bills of South Carolina Electric & Gas’s residential customers. Santee Cooper, a state-owned utility, has increased rates five times to pay for the reactors.
Some environmental groups are now urging state regulators to refund those charges, arguing that the companies misled their customers.
“It was evident from the start that cost overruns, schedule delays and problems with an untested construction method” would doom the project, said Tom Clements, a senior adviser at Friends of the Earth. State regulators have set a hearing on the issue for October. (emphasis added)
