Billion dollar Plant Vogtle tab debate could be on the line with PSC runoff

Georgia Power’s overdue and over-budget Plant Vogtle nuclear plant expansion served as a handy punching bag for the challenger in a Tuesday debate as he took on a veteran of utility regulation ahead of the state’s Jan. 5 runoff election.

Georgia’s twin U.S. Senate contests are consuming most of the country’s political attention now that the presidential contest is finally decided in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.

But there is also a third statewide runoff on the same ballot. The Public Service Commission District 4 race pits veteran Republican Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald against Democrat Daniel Blackman for a seat on the five-member panel that regulates how much Georgians pay for electricity, natural gas and the direction of the state’s energy policy. And the winner will help decide whether ratepayers or shareholders get the tab for Vogtle’s costly expansion.

“We’re five years behind schedule and we’re $14.5 billion over budget on a project that becomes an asset of Georgia Power,” Blackman said at Tuesday’s virtual debate hosted by the Atlanta chapter of the Climate Reality Project. “I mean, even for friends that are fiscally conservative, I don’t see how that’s very helpful. It’s a challenge for all of us.”

Read more: https://georgiarecorder.com/2020/12/16/billion-dollar-plant-vogtle-tab-debate-could-be-on-the-line-with-psc-runoff/