SCE&G: Cost of 2 new reactors up to $11 billion because of construction delays

SCANA Corp. on Thursday filed a petition for a hearing before the S.C. Public Service Commission for it to approve higher costs and later completion dates for two reactors under construction at the V.C. Summer plant.

In the petition, SCE&G, the corporation’s electric utility, said the cost for completing the new nuclear units at the Jenkinsville plant are likely to rise by $1.2 billion from its initial $9.8 billion price tag – to $11 billion. Completion of the Unit 2 reactor will be pushed back three years from 2016 to 2019.

The Unit 3 reactor at the plant north of Columbia is not expected to be finished until June 2020, after an initial projected completion date of 2019, the company said.

SCE&G owns 55 percent of the Summer plant with public utility, Santee Cooper, which owns 45 percent. SCE&G’s share of the projected new increase will rise to $6.8 billion, from an adusted for inflation figure of $6.3 billion.

This is SCANA’s second petition before the commission for higher costs and delays since construction officially began in 2008.

The utility, which has contracted with Westinghouse to design the plant and Chicago Bridge & Iron to construct it, has missed at least two major construction milestones since 2012.

“That doesn’t mean we are going to pay that amount ($1.2 billion),” said SCANA Chairman and CEO Kevin Marsh. “What that means is that’s what’s in the schedule they provided us, and we needed to include that in the update to the commission.”

SCANA is required to update the commission whenever it miss a major construction milestone by more than 18 months, Marsh said.

This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 8:56 PM with the headline "SCE&G: Cost of 2 new reactors up to $11 billion because of construction delays."