Stop the CWIP (Construction Work In Progress) Nuclear Tax in Georgia

THIS IS A PUBLIC PETITION TO THE GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCE
 In 2009 the Georgia General Assembly enacted “Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act” establishing a framework for Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Association of Georgia and the City of Dalton Board of Water, Light, and Sinking Fund to charge Georgia residential electric customers Construction Work in Progress (CWIP), a hidden tax to construct two nuclear reactors, Plant Vogtle Units 3 & 4.
WHEREAS:
• Residential electric customers have been charged CWIP (also called Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery) for Plant Vogtle on electricity bills since 2009;
• CWIP rates have escalated at three times the rate originally approved by the Georgia General Assembly and Georgia Public Service Commission;
• CWIP is a hidden tax on our electric service, a tax which removes the liability of speculation on financially risky reactor investment from the electric companies and places the risk on us, the residential electric customers;
• CWIP forces Georgia electricity customers to invest in a Southern Company construction project without receiving stock certificates, returns or any other shareholder benefits;
• It is unjust and unreasonable and a bad precedent to charge for financing facilities and infrastructure before operational and used for service;
• Less than one year into construction Plant Vogtle is nearly $1 billion over budget and a year behind schedule.
THEREFORE we, the undersigned, PETITION the Georgia General Assembly to REPEAL THE CWIP TAX.