Duke Energy exec: Lee nuclear project hinges on change in N.C. law - Dayton Business Journal:

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The biggest change would be to allow utilities to charger customers for the costs of nuclear plants without a full statew review oftheir rates. That would reversw the current practice inNorth Carolina. The state now conducts a general rate proceedintg before letting a utility charge customers for anypowedr plant. Duke wants N.C. legislation patterne on South Carolina’s Baseload Review Act. That law calls for regulators to approve costs quarterly as a utility builds a Once the plant starts commercial the utility adds the costs into its base rateas after a finalexpedited proceeding. There is no full revies of the company’s rates.
“If we are going to builx these plants, which we believe are an essential part ofour we’re going to have to ask regulators to step says Ellen Ruff, Duke’s president of nuclear development. Duke hopexs to propose legislation inthe N.C. General Assembly’ws short session next year. Ruff says it must be approveed by 2011 if Duke is to stay on tracl to build the Lee plantby 2018.
Ruff spoker at an analyst conference Wednesdayg in New York that also featuredDhiaa Jamil, Duke’sa chief nuclear officer, and Chief Financial Officer David Hauser said Duke won’t be able to financee nuclear development unless laws are changed to ensurre utilities can recover their costs. Ruff said currentf N.C. law does allowq Duke to recover its financing costs beforr a nuclear plant is ButDuke can’t add those expenses into its ratez unless regulators give their OK in a general review of the company’s rates.
The also must decids whether construction costs of such a project were prudeny and reasonable after the plant is That decision is part of a full reviee ofthe company’s rates as Duke contends such rate-setting procedures are cumbersome, expensive and give no certainty that its full costs can be recovered. In their Ruff and Jamil talkes up the advantagesof Duke’w nuclear fleet. They credited the low cost of energyh from nuclear plants withkeeping Duke’s rates the lowest in the Ruff said the Lee if built, would reduce Duke’s carbon emissions by 35%. She said the projec t will provide 400 to 700 permanent jobs at the planfnear Gaffney, S.C.
, and a similar number of permanent support jobs in the region. Plant constructiomn will provide 1,400 to 1,800 temporarh jobs from 2012 to 2019, when the second of two 1,117-megawatt plants is scheduled tobe completed. Ruff conceded that getting N.C. law changerd will be difficult. “We are far away righr now,” she said. “But (the law) needsx to change.” Asked if Duke would consider building the Lee plantf withoutnew legislation, she said “We have to have it.
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