DOE Finalizing $1.8 Billion in Loan Guarantees for Vogtle Owner Is Reckless

Jun 24, 2015 | 2 min read | Print Article

Today, the Department of Energy announced it would issue $1.8 billion in loan guarantees to the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) for the construction of two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia. Two of the other project co-owners, Georgia Power and Oglethorpe Power, previously received $6.5 billion in loan guarantees in February, 2014. Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense issued the following statement:

With today’s agreement to further bankroll a deeply troubled project, the Department of Energy (DOE) has chosen recklessness over responsibility and risked billions more that taxpayers can’t afford to lose. The construction of nuclear reactors 3&4 at Plant Vogtle in Burke County, Georgia has raised red flags at every turn; after experiencing countless setbacks, the project now stands three years behind schedule and nearly $3 billion over budget. Instead of pulling its long guarantee offer long ago, DOE prolonged the negotiations for five years, allowing the recipients to bend the deal in their favor, with a dismal result. By handing out the last of $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to the co-owners of the deeply flawed project, DOE has shown a stunning willingness to bury its head in the sand. It’s time for the federal government to face the reality that loan guarantees are anything but “free money.” Putting the full faith and credit of the U.S. government behind costly, risky entities like MEAG, that the private sector won’t finance, is fiscally reckless.

Photo credit: blatantworld via flickr