NEW NUKES for Georgia???

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Educating and activating the grassroots to create a
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PO Box 8574
Atlanta, GA 31106
404-378-4263
nukewatchsouth@mindspring.com

NO NUKES Y'ALL!

ACTION CENTER | TELL GEORGIA PSC: "STOP VOGTLE!"

STOP RADIOACTIVE RATE HIKES FOR VOGTLE!

Talk to the Georgia Public Service Commission

DOUG EVERETT 404-463-6746	CHUCK EATON 404-657-2020	BUBBA MCDONALD 404-463-4260	STAN WISE 404-657-4574	BOBBY BAKER 404-656-4515

These are the guys who will vote on
Georgia Power's $1 BILLION rate hike December 21.
Please tell them what YOU think about it!

Don't leave the GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION at the mercy of Georgia Power's slick corporate attorneys. Show 'em your PEOPLE POWER and contact them TODAY by EMAIL or phone. You may use the HANDY ACTION EMAIL below to get started.

The PSC is scheduled to vote TOMORROW, December 21, on Georgia Power's request for over $1 BILLION in rate guarantees it needs in order to collect $8.3 BILLION in U.S. taxpayer loans to begin construction of risky, unnecessary nuclear reactors at the Vogtle site in Georgia.

>>> CLICK HERE FOR INSTANT ACTION <<<

BACKGROUND Georgia Power is applying for its third rate hike this year, a whopping $1 BILLION to boost its profit margin so that it will be eligible for $8.3 BILLION in U.S. taxpayer loans to start construction on two risky, unnecessary reactors in Georgia. Besides the need to stockpile billions and billions of other people's money to pursue the two reactors at Vogtle, Georgia Power has other barriers to overcome in its quest, for instance, the still-unlicensed Westinghouse design which languishes at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission mired in expensive design problems. None of the money which Georgia Power is adding to its accounting sheets actually compels Georgia Power to finish the reactor projects, a problem which should trouble even nuclear advocates.

Kudos to SACE for maintaining legal resistance to the controversial rate hike. Sadly, GEORGIA WATCH and AARP joined retailers and industrial users to drop their lawsuits to cut a deal with Georgia Power, abandoning captive residential customers to shoulder most of the massive rate increase. The rate hike would make the average family's electric bill escalate by hundreds of dollars a year and would kick in on January 1.

IT'S TIME FOR PEOPLE POWER! TELL THESE GUYS:
"DO THE RIGHT THING ~ STOP THE RADIOACTIVE RATE HIKE!"

The breakthrough study CARBON-FREE AND NUCLEAR-FREE proves that nuclear, coal and oil are no longer needed as fuels. The newly released report OFFSHORE WIND IN THE ATLANTIC showcases the potential for offshore wind in Georgia. Georgia Power already has a monopoly on the rights. Sun and wind are being harvested and stored NOW and California has passed an ambitious energy storage standard that its utilities must meet. Georgia Power can be a world leader in the new energy revolution. It needs a nudge from the PSC to get over its decades-long nuclear obsession.

The main thing standing between you, endless expensive nuclear reactor construction and a ballooning electric bill is the Georgia Public Service Commission. Read, sign and send the action email below. Edit the comments to reflect your personal viewpoint. Having trouble making ends meet this holiday season? TELL THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ABOUT IT! Use the handy references and links to read about VOGTLE. DON'T DELAY ~ SEND YOUR ACTION EMAIL TODAY!

COMMENT DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 21, 2010

TAKE ACTION!

EDIT AND SIGN THE LETTER ~ ADDITIONAL POINTS TO CUT AND PASTE INCLUDED BELOW

TO THE GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION: I respectfully submit these comments and request that you deny Georgia Power's current $1 BILLION rate request. Georgia Power admits that it needs this rate hike to guarantee high profits that will attract investors and present a financial picture that will ensure that it could qualify for the $8.3 BILLION in U.S. taxpayer funded loans that it wants to start construction on two new reactors at Vogtle on the Savannah River south of Augusta. Unfortunately, Georgia Power's obsession with stockpiling money to start construction of the only risky, unneeded U.S. reactors in more than 30 years has blinded it to the leadership opportunities it has to harness solar and offshore wind power. Contrast Georgia Power's stubborn focus on controversial, long-range nuclear expansion with the daily news of stores installing solar panels and amusement parks installing wind turbines and solar power plants. The PSC can and should insist that Georgia Power redirect its efforts from securing public money for out-moded massive nuclear reactors to adding short-term alternative energy projects to a transmission grid renewal project. Although I am opposed outright to the current rate request I want to point out additional objectionable details. • Georgia Power is requesting 11.15% Return on Equity (ROE) to be guaranteed its private investors through the rates. In the midst of the hardest recession in U.S. history since the Great Depression, a band of 8-10% would be a handsome holding in any portfolio and an appropriate amount to ensure Georgia Power's viability while forcing it to align its energy vision with current technologies and collective financial realities. • Georgia Power is seeking quasi-automatic rate hikes and a severely truncated 90-day review period. The current six-month rate review should stand. • It is unfair for corporate lawyers to wheel and deal to secure basement rates for large-scale commercial electricity users while the PSC allows Georgia Power to take forced investments from captive residential rate payers which are either thrown down the nuclear black hole or squandered on lobbying, litigating, and marketing unnecessary nuclear expansion. Meanwhile, shareholders would be guaranteed excessive profits from Georgia Power's unwholesome and unsustainable business model. This practice of gaming the rates must stop. The clean energy revolution has begun and Georgia Power could be leading the world towards a sustainable, green economy. I urge you to read the reports "Offshore Wind in the Atlantic" and "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy" before casting your vote on December 21. Please use the power of your office to help the citizens of Georgia and Georgia Power join world trends to retire nuclear and harvest natural sources of renewables and efficiency such as the wind offshore the coast of Georgia. Respectfully submitted,

CUT AND PASTE ~ Additional Points to Customize Your Message

~ Energy efficiency and conservation would be undermined by PSC protection of Georgia Power's profits via automatic or truncated rate review.

~ The cost of solar is now lower than the cost of nuclear. See Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover: Solar Energy is Now the Better Buy report from NC WARN.

~ The South is enduring a 10-year drought of historic proportions. Nuclear reactors are water-intensive energy factories, removing water from the stressed Savannah River that is either lost in the air as steam (a greenhouse gas) or returned to the Savannah River heated which damages the river's eco-system. See The Water-Energy Connection: Georgia Facts & Figures report from SACE.

~ In the midst of historic unemployment, mid-level job opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable industries are expanding to install energy sources that are being tied to the grid NOW. Nuclear jobs require applicants to invest in highly specialized education and training for jobs that will not be available until an uncertain future date.

~ The Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design that Georgia Power proposes to construct is held up in licensing review because of shortcomings in its containment system and its inability to withstand a jet airliner strike. Addressing these significant deficiences is likely to drive the cost, and the need for money, higher. It is premature, AT THE VERY LEAST, to give Georgia Power more money with which to continue construction of the speculative Vogtle proposal.

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NO NUKES Y'ALL!

"To the village square
we must carry the facts
of atomic energy.
From there must come America's voice."

ALBERT EINSTEIN

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REFERENCES

NEW!

OFFSHORE WIND
IN THE ATLANTIC
Growing Momentum
for Jobs, Energy Independence,
Clean Air, and Wildlife Protection
National Wildlife Federation

GEORGIA POWER
RATE REQUEST FILING (Nov. 2010)

FRESH LOAF:
Atlanta liquor store
installs solar panels
on its roof

Wind turbine comes
to life today in
North Myrtle Beach

POST ACCIDENT AP1000 CONTAINMENT LEAKAGE: An Unresolved Safety Issue
by Arnold Gundersen

UNTAPPED WEALTH: Offshore Wind
Can Deliver Cleaner,
More Affordable Energy and More Jobs than Offshore Oil

CREATING AN OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY:
A Strategic Work Plan for DOE

CARBON-FREE AND NUCLEAR-FREE:
A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy
by Arjun Makhijani

SOLAR AND NUCLEAR COSTS — THE HISTORIC CROSSOVER:
Solar Energy is Now the Better Buy
NC WARN

HEALTH RISKS OF ADDING NEW REACTORS TO THE VOGTLE NUCLEAR PLANT

THE WATER-ENERGY CONNECTION:
Georgia Facts
& Figures
SACE

DOWNLOAD MAP OF GEORGIA WIND POTENTIAL