Fresh Loaf

Our federal overlords are currently mulling climate change legislation that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thus reducing the impact of global warming. (They’re doing it for the children, ya skeptics.) Some carbon belchers — as well as some Republicans — aren’t thrilled about the bill.

According to a study reported by E&E, a subscription-based energy industry and policy publication, Atlanta-based Southern Co. would be hardest hit if the legislation passes. The article’s only available to subscribers, but here’s a snippet:

Atlanta-based Southern Co. will suffer most from a federal carbon cap-and-trade system, facing $393 million in costs to comply with legislation to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, according to a new study by Point Carbon, a carbon market information firm. Two other energy producers, American Electric Power and Duke Energy, round out the top three firms in the nation facing the most risk, with those two companies expecting to incur costs of $252 million and $125 million, respectively, Point Carbon analysts said.

In an attempt to flesh out the “winners and losers” of federal cap and trade, analysts zeroed in on 18 companies that are expected to represent 40 percent of any future U.S. market in emissions allowances. Southern Co. is characterized as the worst off, while Chicago-based Exelon Corp. is seen as the best off. Point Carbon believes Exelon, the nation’s biggest nuclear power producer, could actually see net revenues of $1.7 billion from the sale of its surplus allowances.

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Atlanta-based Southern Co. says it’ll file project paperwork in 2011 — the same year its Georgia Power subsidiary will start charging ratepayers for two new proposed reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta.

Bloomberg News reports:

Southern Co., the biggest U.S. power producer, is considering building a nuclear power plant in the U.S. to meet demand for electricity and limit the emissions of fossil fuels blamed for global warming.

Southern, based in Atlanta, plans to file for a combined construction and operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2011, Beth Thomas, a spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview today. The company hasn’t picked a site for the new facility, she said.

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Southern, which serves 4.4 million customers in the Southeast, already plans to expand its Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia to add two 1,100-megawatt reactors at the site, which already has two operating units. The Energy Daily reported the plan for the new plant on its Web site yesterday.

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Much like its subsidiary Georgia Power did under the Gold Dome with its controversial Plant Vogtle bill earlier this year, Atlanta-based Southern Co. has cranked up production in its lobbyist factory and ordered more than 60 well-dressed foot soldiers to march through the halls of Congress.

Their mission: Twist lawmakers’ arms about the global warming bill that last week narrowly passed the House and is on its way to the Senate.

From the Center for Public Integrity:

Southern Company, the nation’s largest electric power generator, also had the largest force of lobbyists among the hundreds of businesses and interest groups that were seeking to influence the landmark climate change legislation that just passed the House.

With 63 lobbyists, the Atlanta-based energy giant had nearly twice as many climate lobbyists as any other company or organization, according to registration statements filed with the Senate Office of Public Records for the first quarter of 2009. (The second quarter filings won’t be available for a few weeks.) Eleven of Southern’s climate representatives were in-house, while the rest came from a dozen different lobbying shops.

It’s for good reason, too. The center reports that “more than 80 percent of the 200 million megawatt hours of electricity [Southern Co.'s] plants generate annually is fired by fossil fuel — the main source of greenhouse gases.” Should the bill pass, it could greatly impact Southern Co.’s — and in the process, your — bottom line.

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Earlier this year, Georgia Power made themselves a bunch of enemies with Senate Bill 31, a controversial piece of legislation sponsored by state Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, that allows the utility to charge customers in advance for two new proposed nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Ga.

The bill’s proponents said the rate hike, which would cover the reactors’ financing costs, was necessary to build the costly white elephants. Consumer groups, libertarians, conservatives, liberals — hell, even senior citizens — fumed at the proposed tacked-on cost. Nonetheless, SB 31 passed, and starting in 2011 ratepayers will see an additional $1.30 each month on their energy bills. The monthly fee will roughly double every year, topping out at an estimated $9.30 a month — or $108 a year — in 2017.

Well, Uncle Sam might give Georgia Power ratepayers a little bit of a reprieve from those Plant Vogtle charges. The U.S. Department of Energy is set to bestow $18 billion in federal financing to four utilities that could boost nuclear energy production. And those Plant Vogtle reactors are reportedly on the federal agency’s shortlist.

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Georgia Trend magazine this month bestowed Georgia Power CEO Mike Garrett with the title “Most Respected Georgia Businessman.”

You think it’d be a fluff piece. But Garrett’s profile — which in the print edition is bordered by sycophantic ads hilariously congratulating the CORPORATE TITAN for this monumental achievement — is actually eye-opening.

Georgia Trend editor Susan Percy provides some additional details on the utility’s strong-arm effort to pass Senate Bill 31 during the most recent legislative session. That bill, which was recently signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, allows Georgia Power to charge ratepayers in advance for the financing costs on two new proposed reactors at Plant Vogtle. It was widely lambasted. But bad ideas under the Gold Dome have a way of growing legs and becoming law.

Percy’s one of the first journalists we’ve seen to ask Garrett on the record about the controversial legislation — as well as the steamrollin’ way the bill was shoved down lawmakers’ throats.

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If you’ve been looking for a concise description of utility juggernaut Southern Co.’s lax attitude about getting serious about clean energy — and the state’s role in allowing them to do so — read the second letter to the editor in today’s Savannah Morning News (”Knowing the wind-Vogtle connection”).

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After hours of debate, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a controversial bill that would allow Georgia Power to charge customers in advance for financing costs on two proposed nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.

The bill now moves back to the state Senate where it originated and passed by a wide margin. That chamber will then send it to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s desk for signature. The governor has not said whether he supports or opposes the measure. It merits a mention, however, that Perdue’s chief of staff is a former Georgia Power executive.

Full list of how lawmakers voted will be posted when it’s available.

(Photo courtesy of Plant Vogtle)

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Opponents of a controversial piece of legislation have a powerful voice on their side.

Erick Erickson, editor of Peach Pundit, sent a message to readers today asking them to tell their lawmakers to vote “no” on Senate Bill 31. That bill, which sailed through the state Senate last week, would allow Georgia Power to charge customers in advance for two new proposed nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. He explains the decision here.

That position is sure to catch the attention of many state lawmakers — particularly House members who are now mulling over the legislation.

You can rest assured they won’t miss the post. Seated in the House’s press box, a journalist gets a clear view of lawmakers’ laptops. Throughout the day, you’re bound to see Peach Pundit on several screens.

Erickson’s letter is posted after the jump.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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WHITE ELEPHANTS Senate Bill 31 would provide safety net for Georgia Power

In 1974, Georgia Power broke ground on nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, embarking on a nuclear odyssey that would nearly bankrupt the company.

Almost 15 years later — and after several delays and environmental hurdles— the project’s construction costs ballooned from $680 million to a staggering $8.4 billion. And it wasn’t until then that Georgia Power could begin to recoup the cost from ratepayers.

Now, as the state’s largest utility moves forward on two new reactors at Plant Vogtle estimated at $6.4 billion, the first in nearly 30 years, the company wants to cover its assets — and it’s enlisted the assistance of a phalanx of lobbyists and a controversial legislative plan of attack.

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The state Senate today passed a bill 38-16 that would allow Georgia Power to begin collecting fees from customers to help pay for two proposed nuclear reactors prior to their construction. (The Senate Press Office included in its release about the bill’s passage this hilarious photo to the right of the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Don Balfour, R-Gavelville.)

The bill now moves to the House, where Jim Galloway of the AJC says lawmakers are generally warm to the idea.

Supporters of the bill say it’ll save the utility — and in turn, customers — money in the long run.

But many lawmakers and consumer groups oppose the move because they say it sidesteps the Public Service Commission  — and partially exempts big business and industrial customers from the increased rates.

For an excellent rundown of the controversial legislation, view my esteemed colleague Scott Henry’s post.

After the jump, Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports some lawmakers’ thoughts about the bill.

(more…)

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The Georgia Public Service Commission, the quasi-judicial state agency that determines how much you pay to turn on your lights and heat up your oven, will hold hearings next week to discuss two proposed nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, an power-generation plant near Augusta owned mostly by Georgia Power and Dalton Utilities.

From the PSC:

The Georgia Public Service Commission will continue its hearings on the Georgia Power Co. request seeking commission certification of two new nuclear power generation units at Plant Vogtle at 10 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009. The meeting will take place in Room 110 at 244 Washington Street, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia.

The hearings will continue at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 through Friday, January 16, 2009 if necessary, with the Commission Public Interest Advisory Staff and other intervenors presenting testimony and evidence in support of their positions. The January 15, 2009 hearing will begin at 1:30 p.m. The Public Interest Advisory Staff in their pre-filed testimony of December 19, 2008, recommended approval of the certificate based on Georgia Power’s acceptance of certain financial conditions recommended by other Staff witnesses.

On Feb. 9, Georgia Power will have four days to argue its case in front of the five-member commission. Briefs and proposed orders are due to PSC on March 6. On March 17, the commission is scheduled to issue its decision.

An audio webcast of the hearings can be heard on the commission’s site under “Audio Broadcast Link.” More information about Georgia Power’s request is available on the PSC’s site under Docket Number 27800.

(Photo courtesy of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

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Lobbbyist parties held by Southern Co. for “the Southern delegation” sound like they’re just a step up from fraternity band parties.

Case in point: According to CQPolitics, Atlanta-based utility giant Southern Co. co-sponsored a private party last Sunday in honor of our distinguished gentlemen that featured Sammy Hagar, world-famous curly-haired rocker and tequila enthusiast .

From the article (bold text added to imply outrage and disgust):

For example, the rules weren’t necessarily as tough for the Southern Company sponsoring a Sammy Hagar concert Sunday at the venue First Avenue, billed as a tribute to the Southern Delegation.

Posters and television screens reminded guests of numerous sponsors, including “partners” the National Association of Home Builders and Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, and “additional sponsors” such as Aflac, Wal-Mart and Lockheed Martin.

The message might have been lost on giggling women spilling out of limousines ahead of men with their collars loosened and ready to rock and roll.

But the doormen studiously lined up congressional aides and other guests with convention credentials, for tickets priced at $75 or $125. The House ethics committee had ruled that, depending on a performer’s fame, staffers should pay for tickets to avoid receiving a gift of free entertainment.

“Southern Company co-hosted this event along with many others,” said spokeswoman Valerie Holpp. “We fully complied with rules.”

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Rob Pavey at the Augusta Chronicle reports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have determined two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle would not have an impact on the environment. The commission approved an early site permit initially requested by Southern Co., the plant’s co-owner and operator, in August 2006.

From the article:

The early site permitting process allows an applicant to address site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.

Although it is not a license to build reactors, it streamlines the process to determine whether a proposed site is suitable.

(Photo courtesy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

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The cost of building nuclear reactors, such as the two new ones Southern Co. has proposed at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, is high. Turns out storing the spent fuel generated from the power generators at Yucca Mountain in Nevada will be expensive as well.

From E&E News (subscription required):

DOE has spent $13.5 billion since 1983, and figures to spend $54.8 billion on construction, operation and decommissioning of the [Yucca Mountain] repository; $19.5 billion for transporting the waste — including building the canisters for holding waste; and $8.4 billion for other program activities.

The report notes that the expenses were based on a repository opening date of 2017 — a best possible opening date that Sproat has already said is no longer possible due to budget constraints, which have pushed it to 2020. The lifecycle estimate also does not include the at least $11 billion in liability expenses DOE expects for breaking its contract with utilities to begin taking away the spent nuclear fuel in 1998.

Another possible cost increase could come from the more than 30 planned new nuclear reactors, which were not included in the estimate. Sproat said trying to estimate costs for waste from the new reactors would be speculative and would no longer provide “an apples to apples” comparison with the 2001 report….

(Hat tip to the always informative Joe Romm at ClimateProgress)

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It takes money to make money. And when you’re Atlanta-based carbon king Southern Co., it takes even more money to maintain the status quo.

The ever entertaining and informative Joe Romm at ClimateProgress passes on news of the hometown mom-and-pop business.

The nation’s energy bill is now about a trillion dollars. That means the super-rich fossil fuel companies have enormous profits they can spend on lobbying to ensure their continued dominance. How much? Jeff Goodell has the answer here:

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The 800-pound gorilla in coal politics has long been The Southern Company, the big Atlanta-based coal-burning electric utility.

Once again, Southern didn’t disappoint its friends, doling out $2.8 million in lobbying expenses in Q1 of 2008. That’s close to surpassing the All-Time Lobbying Champion of the Fossil Fuel Industry, ExxonMobil, which spent $3 million in the same period.

Last year, the company spent $14 million on handshakes and head nods in Washington, D.C.

UPDATE: Forgot to even mention this. Romm also points out that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity — a King Coal front group  — spent $1.9 million in the first quarter. The Solar Energies Industries Association, in comparison, spent $75,000.

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Plant Hatch, a nuclear power plant primarily owned by Atlanta-based Southern Co., was forced into an emergency shutdown for 48 hours in early March because a software update rattled the system, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

From the article:

The incident occurred on March 7 at Unit 2 of the Hatch nuclear power plant near Baxley, Georgia. The trouble started after an engineer from Southern Company, which manages the technology operations for the plant, installed a software update on a computer operating on the plant’s business network.

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Weiss said unplanned, automatic shutdowns such as what happened at the Hatch plant are costly, forcing utilities to purchase power from other parts of the grid to the tune of about $1 million a day. But more importantly, Weiss said, automatic shutdowns unnecessarily challenge nuclear safety systems.

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News of the Hatch incident also comes as the cyber-security posture of the electric and nuclear power industry is coming under increasing scrutiny from Congress and government investigators. Last month, the Government Accountability Office issued a scathing report about cyber security weaknesses at the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power company and operator of three nuclear plants, including Browns Ferry.

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“To people in the IT world, cyber means ‘attacks,’ but what I tell people is that in our world the predominant cyber events are unintentional,” he said. “The flip side of that is if it can happen unintentionally, it can probably be caused intentionally and be a whole lot worse.”

The article’s long, but it’s a great read that shows technology redundancies at power plants may be just as much a threat to their security as a terrorist attack.

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The Rome News-Tribune is reporting that 30 years after Georgia Power’s Plant Bowen started belching out pollutants, one of the nation’s biggest carbon dioxide emitters has installed its first of four scrubbers at the facility.

The device — known as a flue gas desulphurization system — is estimated to remove 95 percent of sulfur dioxide from emissions. Its lone waste product — gypsum — will be sold to an Alabama rock wall company.

The article says that Georgia Power plans on installing 21 scrubbers on six of its coal-fired power plants. Each one will take three years to construct.

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Cost of one ton of Appalachian coal in 2007: $40

Cost of one ton of Appalachian coal in 2008: $90

Percentage of electricity price increase Georgia Power recently requested from the state Public Services Commission: 3

Number of times Georgia Power has requested rate increases during the past five years: 5

Amount Georgia Power parent company, Southern Co., spent on government lobbying in 2007: $14.5 million

Number of new coal plants planned for Georgia: 2 Amount of energy, in megawatts, the two coal power plants can produce: 2,050

Amount of energy, in megawatts, that one wind turbine among many located off the Georgia coast could generate in clean energy: 160

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Augusta Chronicle, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Public Service Commission, Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, OpenSecrets.org

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Woe is Georgia Power.

The energy heavy and subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co. is advocating before the Public Services Commission today and tomorrow that it needs to raise its rates 3 percent because of the skyrocketing cost of natural gas and coal, the state’s predominant fuel burned to generate electricity. Customers would most likely see their bills go up $3 if the hike is approved.

Georgia Power says the rate hike will generate $222 million. Long the cheapest bang-for-the-buck source, coal’s prices have risen sharply, from nearly $40 a ton early last year to $90 a ton in today’s market, thanks to increasing demand from India and China. Two new coal power plants have been proposed for the state of Georgia. The mining and use of coal is also probably one of the stiffest middle fingers you can give to Mother Nature, but that’s another story.

In other news, the sun continues to shine and wind continues to blow.

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NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: Memphis crumbles, Mario Chalmers hits the shot of his life and Kansas wins in OT.

GRADY EXPECTATIONS: Robert M. Woodruff Foundation gives $200 million cash donation to the ailing hospital to keep it afloat as power is transferred.

THE LONGEST YARD: Michael Vick initiates mail correspondence with Arthur Blank, telling the Falcons owner he’s playing football in prison and washing pots and pans for 12 cents an hour.

FLIPPING A BIRD? Unnamed active Falcons player is subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in NFL performance-enhancing drug investigation.

SPRING BREAK! Despite having made almost no progress in the quest to meet SACS’s nine accreditation-hinging mandates, Clayton County Schools administration is taking its scheduled five days off for spring break like everyone else in the school system. Meanwhile, the interim superintendent pleads for leniency.

IT TOLLS FOR FEE: I-85 OTP could be getting optional toll lanes to ease traffic congestion, possibly as far north as I-985.

STONY BURKE: Lobbyist with vaguely subdivisionesque name is tapped as Southern Co.’s new “director of federal legislative meddling affairs.”

LAKE LANIER: Will be the site of Canadian Olympic trials next month, presumably for its mud-racing team.

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While leaders and scientists debate the pros and cons of setting long-term goals to lower carbon dioxide emissions, the greenhouse gas responsible for global warming continues to rise. According to the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit environmental group, carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants climbed 2.9 percent in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998. The electric power industry’s carbon dioxide emissions have risen 5.9 percent since 2002 and 11.7 percent since 1997, the group says. Carbon dioxide emissions from power generation are predicted by the U.S. Department of Energy to increase 19 percent between now and 2030. The EIP used data from the Environmental Protection Agency to compile its findings.

In Georgia, the report says, CO2 emissions from power plants have risen 20 percent, or by 16.8 million tons, in the last five years, second to Texas. Last year, the Southern Co.-owned Plant Scherer outside Macon emitted 27.2 million tons of CO2 in 2007, up roughly 2 million tons since 2006. The facility is the country’s foulest coal-fired power plant.

From the report, here’s where Georgia ranks:

• The top 10 states that emitted the most CO2 in 2007 (measured in total tons) are: Texas, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and West Virginia.

• The top 10 states with the largest increases in CO2 emissions over the last five years (between 2002 and 2007) are: Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

• The top 10 states with the largest increases over the past ten years between 1997 and 2007) are Texas, Arizona, Georgia, California, Illinois, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

So, what can we do?

The EIP recommends the nation’s oldest coal-fired power plants, some of which were constructed 50 years ago, need to be retired and replaced with cleaner sources of energy, such as wind and solar power. Problem (from my point of view): A 2007 study by Georgia Power and Georgia Tech concluded that wind power could be generated along the state’s coast, but the capital costs associated with the technology are expensive.

Second, the EIP says that we have to start constructing more energy-efficient buildings. Since the study pegs utilities as the biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, if we lessen our demand, we’ll lighten the load on energy the plants have to produce. Problem (again, from my point of view): Energy-efficient homes, while becoming more affordable, are still not affordable to everyone. Especially the segments of the population who face the most severe burden from high energy bills.

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Business magazine Portfolio has blessed Atlanta-based Southern Co. with a coveted spot on its list of top 10 corporate polluters. The parent company of Georgia Power is described by the glossy as such:

Southern provides power to more than 4 million customers, but its plants emit a mass of noxious gases across the southern United States. Analyzing E.P.A. data, the Environmental Integrity Project reports that Southern runs six of the 50 dirtiest power plants in the country in terms of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury released. Its Bowen plant in Georgia, run by subsidiary Georgia Power, is the biggest American sulfur-dioxide polluter. Southern owns the top three carbon-dioxide-emitting plants in the U.S., two of which rank second and third in mercury output as well. And five of its other plants are among the country’s top 50 nitrogen-oxide producers.

What the company says: Southern continues to invest billions of dollars to lower its chemical and greenhouse-gas emissions while also seeking out new ways to produce cleaner energy.

Way to go, Southern Co.! All publicity’s good publicity!

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Amount Coca-Cola Co. paid former CEO Neville Isdell in 2007: $31.9 million

Amount Coca-Cola paid current CEO Muhtar Kent in 2007: $8.7 million

Average salary of an account manager (sales) at Coca-Cola: $38,327

Amount Home Depot paid former CEO Robert Nardelli in 2006: $13.1 million

Value of Nardelli’s Home Depot severance package: $210 million

People Home Depot laid off from its Vinings headquarters in January: 500

Amount Southern Co. paid CEO David Ratcliffe in 2006: $7.8 million

Annual salary for “utility worker” position advertised on Southern Co.’s website: $24,696

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, PayScale, Executive PayWatch Database, CFO magazine, Fortune magazine, Athens Banner-Herald, New York Times

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It’s a wallet, you perverts!

The Associated Press reports that Atlanta-based Southern Co., parent company of Georgia Power, Alabama Power, God-We-Have-So-Much Power, and other utilities, spent more than $14 million last year on lobbying the U.S. Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

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Statistics released yesterday show that Georgia is home to the nation’s dirtiest power plant, Monroe County’s Plant Scherer. We’ve also got No. 3, Plant Bowen in Bartow County.

The nation’s second-dirtiest power plant is right next door, in Alabama. And all three are operated by Southern Co.

According to one estimate, the nation’s 50 dirtiest power plants account for only 14 percent of our electricity-generating facilities, yet are responsible for 40 percent of the nation’s power-plant pollution.

Perhaps I have Southern Co.’s political influence to thank for my persistent summer cough. Those greenhouse gases are far more treacherous in the warmer months, you know.

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