Getting Consumers to Pay Now for Nukes Later [1]
Submitted by Bob Burton [2] on
Georgia Power, a subsidiary of the energy utility Southern Power [3], has mounted an intensive lobbying campaign for legislation that would allow it to bill customers now for as much [4] as $2 billion of the $14 billion price tag of two new nuclear reactors proposed for the Vogtle power station. The utility, notes Associated Press reporter Shannon McCaffrey, has employed five lobbyists, used its four in-house lobbyists, and paid for meals for the House Republican leadership, House Democrats and the executive committee of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. McCaffrey's article was published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the day before it published an opinion column [5] by former Greenpeace [6] activist turned PR consultant Patrick Moore [7]. Moore, who enthusiastically championed Georgia Power's case, was simply described as the "co-chairman of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition [8]'' which supports "increased use of nuclear energy." The paper didn't disclose that the coalition was created and is funded by the Nuclear Energy Institute [9] (NEI), and that Georgia Power is one of NEI's members (pdf) [10].