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Electric plant, construction and related agreements:
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Electric plant, construction and related agreements:  
Electric plant, construction and related agreements:

8. Electric plant, construction and related agreements:

a. Electric plant

    We, along with Georgia Power, have entered into agreements providing for the purchase and subsequent joint operation of certain electric generating plants. Each co-owner is responsible for providing its' own financing. The plant investments disclosed in the table below represent our undivided interest in each plant. A summary of our plant investments and related accumulated depreciation as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 is as follows:

   

 

  2013     2012    

 

    (dollars in thousands)  

Plant

    Investment     Accumulated
Depreciation
    Investment     Accumulated
Depreciation
 
   

In-service(1)

                         

Owned property

                         

Vogtle Units No. 1 & No. 2
(Nuclear – 30% ownership)

  $ 2,778,941   $ (1,602,942 ) $ 2,745,800   $ (1,566,133 )

Vogtle Unit No. 3 & No. 4
(Nuclear – 30% ownership)

    12,073     (338 )   8,956     (147 )

Hatch Units No. 1 & No. 2
(Nuclear – 30% ownership)

    679,373     (367,757 )   645,722     (361,554 )

Wansley Units No. 1 & No. 2
(Fossil – 30% ownership)

    441,590     (149,594 )   441,340     (147,890 )

Scherer Unit No. 1
(Fossil – 60% ownership)

    889,094     (306,027 )   696,223     (288,701 )

Rocky Mountain Units No. 1, No. 2 & No. 3
(Hydro – 75% ownership)

    587,312     (199,386 )   585,133     (187,763 )

Hartwell (Combustion Turbine – 100% ownership)

    224,384     (94,258 )   224,374     (89,822 )

Hawk Road (Combustion Turbine – 100% ownership)

    242,757     (61,846 )   243,963     (56,593 )

Talbot (Combustion Turbine – 100% ownership)

    281,271     (94,399 )   281,009     (86,000 )

Chattahoochee (Combined cycle – 100% ownership)

    306,953     (97,392 )   301,246     (88,272 )

Smith (Combined cycle – 100% ownership)

    561,704     (137,626 )   553,942     (123,575 )

Wansley (Combustion Turbine – 30% ownership)

    3,636     (3,309 )   3,624     (3,161 )

Transmission plant

    86,088     (47,286 )   84,801     (45,381 )

Other

    111,887     (62,904 )   109,461     (67,415 )

Property under capital lease:

   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 

Doyle (Combustion Turbine – 100% leasehold)

    126,990     (92,944 )   126,990     (82,546 )

Scherer Unit No. 2 (Fossil – 60% leasehold)

    716,050     (297,367 )   454,123     (277,134 )
   

Total in-service

 
$

8,050,103
 
$

(3,615,375

)

$

7,506,707
 
$

(3,472,087

)
   

Construction work in progress

   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 

Vogtle Unit No. 3 & No. 4

  $ 1,940,340         $ 1,613,791        

Environmental and other generation improvements

    270,446           626,264        

Other

    1,438           865        
   

Total construction work in progress

 
$

2,212,224
       
$

2,240,920
       
   
(1)
Amounts include plant acquisition adjustments at December 31, 2013 and 2012 of $196,000,000 and $196,000,000, respectively.

    Our proportionate share of direct expenses of joint operation of the above plants is included in the corresponding operating expense captions (e.g., fuel, production or depreciation) on the accompanying Statement of Revenues and Expenses.

b. Construction

    In April 2008, Georgia Power, acting for itself and as agent for Oglethorpe, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia (collectively, the Co-owners), and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Westinghouse) and Stone & Webster, Inc. (collectively, the Contractor) entered into an engineering, procurement, and construction agreement (Vogtle No. 3 and No. 4 Agreement) to design, engineer, procure, construct, and construct two AP1000 nuclear units with electric generating capacity of approximately 1,100 megawatts each and related facilities, structures, and improvements at Plant Vogtle (Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4).

    The Vogtle No. 3 and No. 4 Agreement is an arrangement whereby the Contractor supplies and constructs the entire facility with the exception of certain items provided by the Co-owners. Under the terms of the Vogtle No. 3 and No. 4 Agreement, the Co-owners will pay a purchase price that will be subject to certain price escalations and adjustments, including fixed escalation amounts and certain index-based adjustments, as well as adjustments for change orders, and performance bonuses. Each Co-owner is severally (and not jointly) liable for its proportionate share, based on its ownership interest, of all amounts owed to the Contractor under the Vogtle No. 3 and No. 4 Agreement. Our proportionate share is 30.0%.

    The NRC certified the Westinghouse AP1000 Design Control Document (DCD) effective December 30, 2011. On February 10, 2012, the NRC issued combined construction permits and operating licenses (COLs) for Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 which allowed full construction to begin. There have been technical and procedural challenges to the construction and licensing of these units and additional challenges at the federal and state level are expected as construction proceeds.

    During the development and construction process, issues have materialized that have impacted the original schedule and cost estimates. These issues have delayed the estimated commercial operation dates for Units No. 3 and No. 4 to the fourth quarter of 2017 and 2018, respectively, and increased our estimated project cost, including allowance for funds used during construction and a contingency amount, to approximately $4,500,000,000. Commercial responsibility for the revised commercial operation dates and additional costs remain in dispute.

    As construction continues, the risk remains that additional challenges in the fabrication, assembly, delivery and installation of structural modules, delays in the receipt of the remaining permits necessary for the operation of Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4, or other issues could arise and may further impact project schedule and cost. Additional claims by the Contractor or Georgia Power, on behalf of the Co-owners, are also likely to arise throughout construction. These claims may be resolved through formal and informal dispute resolution procedures under the Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 Agreement, but also may be resolved through litigation.

    The ultimate outcome of these matters cannot be determined at this time.

    At December 31, 2013, our total Vogtle project costs were approximately $2,051,000,000.