The U.S. Department of Energy approved an agreement that will see Toshiba Corp. make the remaining payments of $3.2 billion to Alvin W. Vogtle owners by Dec. 15.
Georgia Power Co. will receive approximately $1.47 billion as its proportionate share of the payments. As of Dec. 8, the Japanese conglomerate has made $455 million in total scheduled payments to the Southern Co. subsidiary and other Vogtle co-owners Oglethorpe Power Corp., Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities, according to a news release. Oglethorpe Power's share is $967.5 million out of which the company has already received $136.5 million.
Toshiba in June agreed to pay $3.68 billion to Vogtle owners after its nuclear arm, Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, declared bankruptcy in March. The company made the first installment of $300 million to the four owners in early October.
In addition to Toshiba payments, the DOE announced conditional commitments for up to $3.7 billion in loans for the Vogtle expansion project in September. The guarantees break down to $1.67 billion for Georgia Power, $1.6 billion for Oglethorpe Power and $415 million to three subsidiaries of Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia.
The Georgia Public Service Commission is currently reviewing a recommendation by Georgia Power to move forward with construction of the Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear expansion. The PSC is expected to make a decision regarding the future of the Vogtle expansion as part of the 17th Vogtle construction monitoring proceeding.
"[We] continue to believe that completing both Vogtle units represents the best economic choice for customers and preserves the benefits of carbon-free, baseload generation for Georgia electric customers," Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO Paul Bowers said when the agreement was announced on Dec. 5.
In a recent letter to PSC Chairman Stan Wise, Bowers said if passed, federal tax reform would result in the utility collecting less money from ratepayers to fund the Vogtle expansion. According to the utility's preliminary analysis, a lower federal tax rate would result in lower revenue requirements for its nuclear cost recovery tariff, which Bowers described as a situation favorable to ratepayers, Bowers wrote in the letter.
