Progress Energy’s Scam

GET ANGRY! Did you know Progress Energy and Florida Power and Light are trying to raise your rates well before their proposed new reactors are built (if they’re ever even built)? By 2018 you’ll be paying over $30 a month and by 2020 nearly $50 a month for those new nuclear reactors even though they’re not set to come online until 2021 – if ever? And that if the reactors never come online, you won’t see a refund? That’s a SCAM!

This artful act of passing costs onto customers to pay for their capital and construction costs in advance of a power plant actually producing any electricity is typically called “Construction Work in Progress” or CWIP, and is sometimes called “early cost recovery” or here in Florida, “nuclear cost recovery.” Sounds more like “Corporate Welfare In Progress” doesn’t it? You can thank. To get involved in local efforts against this rotten deal, check out the Citizens for ratepayers Rights.

Getting their hands on your money early on helps the utilities get financing from the banks and helps protect their shareholders even further from the risks of building new nuclear reactors. One of the many problems with this scenario is that YOU are then responsible essentially for all of the costs associated with building that power plant — even if it never gets built and even if there are delays or problems with construction.

Early cost recovery for proposed nuclear plants this year could drive up Progress Energy’s ratepayer bills up to 25%! Construction cost estimates for nuclear reactors in Florida have tripled in the last several years and are expected to increase – placing enormous risk on the backs of ratepayers (yes, that means you).

Right now, Progress isn’t giving you the CHOICE that you deserve to make sure your consumer dollars go toward safe, affordable, and truly clean energy choices like solar and wind power! They, along with nuclear power proponents, are trying to pull the wool over our eyes — making us pay for dangerous nuclear plants up front that may never produce any electricity — that’s a SCAM!

Meanwhile, utility lobbyists continue to lobby hard to get state lawmakers to think that nuclear power is clean and affordable — neither of which are true (see costly power and risky power links) – they are SCAMMING us and playing our decision makers! Building new nuclear reactors is an extremely expensive venture and too much emphasis on nuclear power could hurt ratepayers by diverting investments away from available lower-cost resources – like energy efficiency and conservation!

Costly Power

Risky Power