Georgia Power said Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) had issued the final approval needed for Georgia Power's new agreement with Toshiba, the parent company of former primary Vogtle contractor Westinghouse, to receive all remaining scheduled payments from Toshiba in the amount of approximately $3.2 billion by Dec. 15, 2017.
The approval was expected. However, it is a critical development supporting Georgia Power and associate companies to complete the Vogtle expansion project, consisting of two new Westinghouse-designed AP1000 reactors. Georgia Power's proportionate share of the $3.2 billion in payments is approximately $1.47 billion. To date, the Vogtle co-owners, which includes Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities in smaller proportions, have received $455 million in total scheduled payments from Toshiba under the parent guarantee for the Vogtle project – a structure which was put in place to protect Georgia electric customers as part of the original contract.
Other recent developments include a recently announced a conditional commitment of approximately $1.67 billion in additional loan guarantees for the project from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Today, after including anticipated customer benefits from federal production tax credits, interest savings from loan guarantees from the DOE and the fuel savings of nuclear energy, the projected peak rate impact to Georgia Power retail customers is approximately 10 percent, with 5 percent related to the project already in rates – well below original projections of approximately 12 percent.
Final approval and issuance of the additional loan guarantees by the DOE cannot be assured and are subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements, completion of due diligence by the DOE, receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other conditions, Georgia Power said in a statement.