Deadline dodged, Southern, SCANA weigh wresting nuclear plants from Westinghouse, Utility Dive, Gavin Bade Peter Maloney, 2 May 17
Dive Brief:
- Southern Company and SCANA reached interim agreements with nuclear developer Westinghouse on Friday to continue construction on two nuclear plants as the developer works through bankruptcy proceedings.
- SCANA and Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned utility, agreed to an extension of an interim agreement with Westinghouse that will see the contractor continue construction on the V.C. Summer nuclear plant through June 26.
- Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power also extended its construction agreement with Westinghouse on the Vogtle nuclear plant, but only until May 12. Both construction agreements were slated to expire at midnight on Friday, and the companies will use the extra time to evaluate if they should take control of construction from Westinghouse.
Dive Insight:
The utility teams building nuclear reactors in Georgia and South Carolina were scrambling Friday as they addressed the end of 30-day agreements with bankrupt Westinghouse Electric, the contractor for those plants.
Officials at SCANA and Santee Cooper, which are building two reactors at the V.C. Summer nuclear station in South Carolina, reportedly said they would use the time to evaluate whether to take control of the project from Westinghouse or abandon it……..
Westinghouse’s bankruptcy has raised deep doubts over the fate of the only two new nuclear plants to be built in the United States in 30 years. Both nuclear projects are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, which helped push Westinghouse into bankruptcy at the end of March and prompted parent company Toshiba to plan a split into four separate subsidiaries.
Both projects are also working against a Dec. 31, 2020, in-service deadline to be eligible for a $0.018/kWh federal production tax credit. Last week, SCANA officials told analysts that extending the deadline for those incentives could be key to completing the projects. http://www.utilitydive.com/news/deadline-dodged-southern-scana-weigh-wresting-nuclear-plants-from-westing/441578/
