ML20214K371
| ML20214K371 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vogtle  |
| Issue date: | 11/14/1986 |
| From: | NRC |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20214K340 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8612020278 | |
| Download: ML20214K371 (42) | |
Text
.
i PLANT V0GTLE, UNIT 1 GEORGIA POWER COMPANY, ET AL DOCKET NO. 50-424A FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT ANTITRUST CHANGES
._ {
w.
8612O20278 861114 4 DR ADOCK 0500
^
CONTENTS .
I. Introduction..................................Page 1 II. Georgia Electric Power Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 III. Previous Antitrust Reviews........................ 4 A. Plant Hatch CP Review
"' B. Plant Vogtle CP Review C. Hatch /Vogtle Settlement D. Oglethorpe, MEAG and Dalton CP Review E. Hatch Unit 2 OL Review IV. Changes Since the Vogtle CP Antitrust Review..... 12 A. Formation of Joint Action Groups B. Generation-Ownership Changes C. Transmission-Ownership Changes D. Formation of a " Joint Committee" E. Interconnections F. Wholesale Power Developments G. Reductions in Projected Load Growth
.__ V. Summary and Conclusions.......................... 21 ,
Appendices ,'
A. Department of Justice Advice Letter Dated May 1,1974.
- B. Department of Justice Advice Letter Dated April 9,1976 l
I. Introduction i
A prospective operating licensee is not required to undergo a formal anti-trust review unless the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) determines that there have been "significant changes" in the licensee's activities or proposed activities subsequent to the review by the Attorney General and the Commission at the construction permit (CP) stage. Concen-tration on changes in the applicant's activities since the previous antitrust s review expedites and focuses the review on areas of possible competitive conflict heretofore not analyzed by the Attorney General or the Commission.
In its Summer decision, the Commission has provided the staff with a set of criteria to be used in making the significant change determination for operating license (0L) applicants.
"The statute contemplates the change or changes (1) have occurred since the previous antitrust review of the licensee (s); -
~
(2) are reasonably attributable to the licensee (s); and (3) have -
antitrust implicatiggg that would most likely warrant some Commission remedy." .
The Commission has delegated the responsibility for making a significant
,, change determination to the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station Unit 1, Docket No. 50-395A, June 26,
,,, 1981 at 13 NRC 862 (1981).
" Staff" hereinafter refers to the Planning and Resource Analysis Branch of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Office of the General
,,,, Counsel.
Commission Memorandum and Order, p. 7, dated June 30, 1980 (CLI-80-28).
To warrant a significant change finding, the particular change (s) must meet all three of these criteria. Staff has received data submitted by the licensees in connection with Georcia Power Company's Plant Hatch and Plant Vogtle construction permits as well as data pertaining to any changed circumstances since the completion of the Hatch and Vogtle review. After reviewing these and other pertinent data, staff has determined that none of the changes that were identified were significant in an antitrust context, and consequently, staff is not recommending that a "significant change" finding be made pursuant to the antitrust operating license review of Plant Vogtle, Unit 1.
II. Georaia Electric Power Industry
~~ .
Electric power in the state of Georgia is supplied largely by: two investor-owned utilities, Georgia Power Company (GPCo) and the Savannah ,'
Electric and Power Co.; a generation and transmission cooperative, Oglethorpe Power Corporation (0gletnorpe or OPC); the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through the Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA); and a municipal joint action agency, the Municipal Electric Author of Georgia (MEAG). (Three of the principal po w supply systems in the state are co-owners of Plant Vogtle and Plant Hatch.)
l 4
l
- Georgia Power Co. is the lead licensee, responsible for construction and operation of both Plant Hatch and Plant Vogtle.
A. Applicant Power Systems Plant Vogtle is a two unit (1,100 MW each) power plant located on the Savannah River in Burke, County Georgia. The plant is jointly owned by the Georgia Power Co. (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power Corp. (30%), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and the City of Dalton, Georgia (1.6%).
Georgia Power is an operating subsidiary of the Southern Company, a holding company organized under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. GPCo is the largest of the applican vstems (and the.laroest .
power supplier in the state) with over 11,500 MW in generating capability in 1985. GPCo's service area extends over 57,000 square miles, serving over 600 cities and towns and over five million in population.
Oglethorpe Power Corp. is a generation and transmission (G&T) power '
cooperative organized in 1975 principally to furnish power and energy to -
39 electric distribution cooperatives. Since its inception, OPC has acquired ownership shares in various baseload generating plants that presently account for over 1,900 MW of generating capability. The 39 membership customers serve primarily rural areas throughout the state, covering 71 percent of the land area in the state of Georgia. Except for power received under individual member contracts with the Southeastern Power Administration, Oglethorpe acts as the sole supplier to its distribution cooperative members under a wholesale power supply contract lasting until the year 2022.
The remaining Southern Company operating subsidiaries include: Alabama Power Co., Gulf Power Co. and Mississippi Power Co.
l l
. 4 j The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia was created by the-Georgia legislature in 1975,
...for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, owning, operating and maintaining electric generation and transmission facilities to supply bulk electric power and energy to political subdivisions of the State whiEh owned and operated electric distribution systems...."
MEAG serves its customers (46 municipalities and one county power commission) in much the same manner as Oglethorpe serves its distribution cooperatives. Since its inception, MEAG has acquired ownership in various baseload power plants totaling over 1,000 MW of generating capability. MEAG participants, formerly total requirements wholesale customers of GPCo, have begun supplying the needs of its members
-- through purchase of interests in generating plants and partial 7 requirements purchases from GPCo. .
III. Previous Antitrust Reviews Georgia Power Company has undergone antitrust reviews in conjunction with its CP and OL applications for Unit 2 of Plant Hatch and at the construction permit stage for Plant Vogtle.
In MEAG response to Regulatory Guide 9.3 dated October 14, 1983, p. 2.
The Crisp County Power Commission, a MEAG participant, generates its own power requirements; however, Crisp County still engages in certain interchange service with GPCo.
A. Plant Httch CP Review l
After an extensive review by both the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Justice (Department or D0J), the Department issued an advice letter to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) on August 2, 1972 recommending 2
that the AEC hold an evidentiary hearing associated with the Plant Hatch construction permit application. The Department's advice letter concluded that Georgia Power Company was the dominant electric power system in the state of Georgia and that GPCo had, for some time, abused its market power at the expense of smaller less integrated power systems within the state. The Department emphasized that access to transmission facilities in Georgia was an important factor in the smaller power systems' quests to actively enter the bulk power services market in Georgia.
"With control over all transmission, Applicant Georgia Power -
Company has been in a position to grant or deny access to .
coordination to actual or potential competitors at wholesale I
or at retail in most of the State of Georgia. It has in fact used that monopoly control so as to prevent or impede the development of competitive bulk power supply systems."
The Department issued its initial advice letter in the Plant Hatch, Unit 2 l CP proceeding on December 7, 1971, indicating that interested parties in the proceeding were involved in negotiations aimed at resolving outstanding competitive issues and that another advice letter would be
( forthcoming in the near future.
n*
Department of Justice advice letter dated August 2, 1972, p. 3.
l The Department suggested in its advice letter that any license;to construct Unit 2 of Plant Hatch be conditioned to provide relief from the following I
anticompetitive activities:
"(1) refusal to transfer wholesale power except at relatively low voltages, in order to preclude competition from existing wholesale customers for large industrial loads, and to prevent the development and expansion of coordinated subtransmission systems among wholesale customers; (2) territorial allocation schemes with adjacent utilities (including Georgia Power's affiliates) in other states who might otherwise be available as alternative sources of bulk power supply; (3) territorial restrictions, customer restrictions on the resale of power delivered by Georgia Power under its wholesale contracts; (4) requiring of excessive reserves as a condition for interconnection between Georgia Power and other electric utilities; and (5) inclusion of unreasonable restrictions in SEPA power contracts in order to forestall development of new generation by other electric utilities."
B. Plant Vogtle CP Review The Commission received Georgia Power's construction permit application for Plant Vogtle, Units 1-4 on August 1,1972. On May 9, 1973, the l
Ibid., pp. 11-12.
l l
l l
DepartmentissuedanotheradvicelettertotheAECpursuant(otheVogtle CP application, again recommending that a hearing be held to determine whether,or not Georgia Power's activities would create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws.
The applicant and affected parties were the same in both the Hatch and Vogtle proceedings and as a result, the Department's Vogtle advice letter.
refere:,ced the Hatch CP advice letter, indicating that the industry structure and Georgia Power's conduct with respect to smaller power ,
systems in the state of Georgia was unchanged since its last letter of advice to the AEC.
"Accordingly, the facts upon which our advice regarding -
the Vogtle units must be based, are identical to those '
stated in our letter on the earlier application [ Hatch) except that changes in the fossil fuel supplies appear to -
' increase the importance of nuglear power generation as a -
source of bulk power supply."
The Department concluded its Vogtle advice letter by suggesting that the l similarities of issues and parties in both the Hatch and Vogtle proceedings warranted consolidation of the two proceedings for purposes of conducting an evidentiary hearing before the Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC staff agreed with the Department and filed a motion before the Commission on September 25, 1973 to consolidate the Vogtle and Hatch proceedings.
Department of Justice advice letter dated May 9, 1973, p. 1.
. _ - . - - _ - . - - - - , - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ~ ~ ' ^ ~ ' ~ * ~ ' ~~
C. Hatch /Vogtle Settlement The AEC staff, the Department, the applicant and several intervenors conducted extended negotiations aimed at resolving the competitive concerns raised by the Department in its August 2, 1972 Hatch advice letter. In April of 1974, the parties agreed to a settlement agreement that contained a set of proposed license conditions to the Hatch (Unit 2) and Vogtle nuclear units designed to remedy the applicant's alleged misuse of its dominant position in the Georgia electric bulk power industry.
The Department's advice letters in Hatch and Vogtle expressed concern over Georgia Power's dominance in generation and transmission capabilities in the state of Georgia and the apparent abuse of this market power at. the expense of and to the detriment of smaller power _
systems and the competitive process in the Georgia electric bulk power supply industry. The license conditions proposed in the settlement -
agreement provided many new competitive alternatives and options to power systems which had heretofore been dependent upon Georgia Power for all of their electric power supply needs. Georgia Po er agreed to sell full and partial requirements power to any " entity" l
Subsequent to publication of the Hatch and Vogtle advice letters in the Federal Register, the AEC received petitions to intervene in both proceedings representing both municipal and cooperative power interests in the state of Georgia. (The Georgia Municipal Association and the City of Acworth, Ga., in both proceedings and the Georgia Electric Membership Corp. , the City of Dalton, Ga. , and the Mitchell County Electric Membership Corp. in the Hatch proceedings.)
Entity is specifically defined in the license conditions.
in the state, to transmit bulk power over its system to entities it is connected to, to interconnect with entities and offer ownership interest in Unit 2 of Plant Hatch and Plant Vogtle Units 1-4.
As a result of the settlement agreed upon by Georgia Power and the intervenors, the Department of Justice issued another advice letter
~
dated May 1, 1974 to the AEC pursuant to both the Hatch and Vogtle construction permit proceedings. The Department concluded in its advice letter that the licensing commitments agreed upon by Georgia onupui.efiti'hT'cempetitsridbt-tgia T-..u
~
y v.. . sumro e i uvi s Power the means to effectively compete in the Georgia talk power services market.
"On the strength of these commitments and with the -
expectation that the Commission will include them as '
conditions to the licenses involved here, we conclude that it will not be necessary to proceed with antitrust -
hearings on the instant application and that the existing -
proceeding may be terminated."
Subsequent to the settlement and the 1974 advice letter of the Department I
recommending that the Hatch and Vogtle proceedings be terminated, the AEC A
Department of Justice advice letter dated May 1,1974, unnumbered p. 2.
Attached as Appendix A.
i
staff filed a motion before the Commission in June of 1974 requesting dismissal of the Vogtle proceeding. A similar pleading was filed before the relevant Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (established to rule on the Hatch proceeding) to terminate the parallel Hatch proceeding which had entered the early stages of the hearing process.*
D. Oglethorpe, MEAG and Dalton CP Review The license conditions agreed upon by Georgia Power provided for access to all of the Vogtle nuclear units and Unit 2 of Plant Hatch.
Oglethorpe, MEAG and the City of Dalton all opted to exercise their options to purchase a portion of Vogtle and Hatch and as new owners had to undergo an antitrust review at the construction permit stage of -
~~~ **
review.
l .
On April 9, 1976, the Department of Justice provided the Nuclear l
Regulatory Commission with advice pursuant to the addition of i
1 Oglethorpe, MEAG and Dalton as prospective new owners in Unit 2 of Plant Hatch and Units 1 and 2 of Plant Vogtle. The Department The dismissal of the two proceedings mooted staff's request for na consolidation.
Certain smaller (de minimis) power systems are no longer required to undergo the same stringent antitrust review procedure required of the ama large fully integrated prospective licensees.
,,,, The Department's April 9, 1976 advice letter is attached as an Appendix B.
Units 3 and 4 of Plant Vogtle had been cancelled since the 1974 commitments were agreed upon.
Department concluded that the addition of these three new co-owners was the result of extensive settlement negotiations between Georgia Power and the representatives of small competing systems throughout the state of Georgia.
...the addition of MEAG, Oglethorpe and the City of Dalton as partial owners of the Hatch unit and the Vogtle units will not create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws."
Through Oglethorpe and MEAG, any interested electric cooperative or municipal electric system may participate in the ownership of Plants Hatch and Vogtle. Moreover, Georgia Power provided small electric systems direct ownership in these units (note the City of Dalton's participation) should they prefer not to participate through a joint brokering agreement. The new co-owners were also offered ownership in portions of Georgia Power's high voltage transmission system- previously owned and controlled exclusively by Georgia Power. The smaller power i
systems now have the capability to seek out alternative power supply sources, a competitive option virtually foreclosed to them before the consummation of the settlement agreement.
E. Hatch Unit 2 OL Review Georgia Power filed its operating license for Unit 2 of Plant Hatch in the fall of 1975 and submitted information responding to the Commission's Department of Justice advice letter dated April 9, 1976, p. 3.
Regulatory Guide 9.3 (identifying changes in the applicants' activities since the CP review) in January of 1976. The bulk of the licensees' response described changes in Georgia Power's activities which were directly associated with and resulted largely from the 1974 settlement agreement between Georgia Power and the municipal and cooperative power systems in Georgia. The review indicated that there were several rate proceedings before the Federal Power Commission (FPC) pursuant to rates for wholesale customers involving price squeeze issues. The review found that the bulk of the changes in the licensees' activities were attributed to the settlement agreement and were procompetitive in nature and that the rate or price squeeze issues were under the jurisdiction of the FPC. '
The significant change review concluded that the changes in the licensees' activities since the CP antitrust review were not of a nature to require an operating license antitrust review.
7 IV. Changes Since the Vogtle CP Antitrust Review .
. As indicated supra, the Commission does not initiate a formal antitrust review at the operating license state unless "significant changes" in the licensee's activities have taken place since the completion of the construction permit antitrust review. The Commission's antitrust review at the CP review stage for Plant Vogtle (and Plant Hatch) was effectively completed when the Commission terminated the proceeding on June 28, 1974. Staff has identified several groups of changes (with potential competitive significance) since the completion of the Vogtle CP review.
. A. Formation of Joint Action Groups During the Hatch and Vogtle CP review, many different municipal electric.and cooperative power systems in Georgia raised concerns over Georgia Power's competitive practices involving bulk power supply through-out the state. As these concerns surfaced and many of the municipal and
.., cooperative systems realized they had a commonality of interests, they ultimately joined together to form two large joint action agencies --
Oglethorpe Power Corporation and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia.
Oglethorpe was formed in August of 1974 and acts as the power broker for its 39 electric distribution cooperative members. None of Oglethorpe's members actually owns generating facilities. Oglethorpe has been empowered by its members to seek out the most cost effective source of I power supply (either through ownership of generating capacity itself or -
through purchase of power and energy) for its members and has set a goal of self-sufficiency in baseload generation for the 1990's.
l l MEAG serves its municipal electric " participants" in much the same manner as Oglethorpe does its cooperative distribution systems. Prior to its formation in 1975 and up until 1977, all of the MEAG participants were dependent upon Georgia Power Company for all power and energy needs not supplied by the federally-owned Southeastern Power Administ.ation .
l Crisp County Power Commission supplies much of its own power requirements through its own generating facilities and also engages in certain inter-change service with Georgia Power Co.
"Since 1977, MEAG has furnished all of the Participants' requirements formerly supplied by GPC, except for certain interchange service which GPC continues to provide Crisp County. MEAG has done so through a combination of ownarship interests in generating units and purchases from GPC."
The creation of Oglethorpe and MEAG enabled many smaller electric power
, systems in the state of Georgia to participate in the benefits associated with baseload generation and transmission.
B. Generation - Ownership Changes Since the completion of the Vogtle CP review, Georgia Power has sold substantial portions of its baseload generating capability, both nuclear and non-nuclear, to Oglethorpe, MEAG and the City of Dalton, Georgia. ,
The following ownership shares have been sold to these three power entities: '
MEAG OPC DALTON Plant Hatch (nuclear) 17.7% 30.0% 2.2%
Plant Vogtle (nuclear) 22.7% 30.0% 1.6%
Plant Wansley (fossil) 15.1% 30.0% 1.4%
Plant Scherer (fossil) 30.2% 60.0% 1.4%
Units 1 and 2 na MEAG response to Regulatory Guide 9.3 dated October 14, 1983, p.2.
Georgia Power has agreed to buy back specific portions of the output from portions of Plant Vogtle sold to MEAG end OPC. The buy back arrangements were intented to provide the new owners the opportunity to purchase portions of large generating facilities at one point in time, yet receive the output from their ownership shares on a schedule commensurate with the gradual increase projected in their respective load requirements.
l These shares represent substantial portions of Georgia Power's baseload capacity additions since 1975.
C. Transmission - Ownership Changes As a result of the settlement agreement in 1974, Georgia Power made available portions of its transmission system to power entities in Georgia that wished to take equity positions in Georgia Power's existing transmission grid as well as planned future additions to the transmission grid. To facilitate the movement of power and energy from its jointly owned generating plants and at the same. time orovide the means to.shon
_ mm - - -,-....._m-- -
for alternative power supply sources, an Integrated Transmission System (ITS) was formed (in 1975-76) among Georgia Power, MEAG, OPC and Dalton.
As the ITS is envisioned, each participating entity has an investment responsibility in the total Georgia territorial transmission system relative to its expected use of the transmission system. Prior to the '
formation of the ITS agreement, -
... there were numerous electric membership corporations and municipalities in Georgia taking full requirements electric service from the Company. Now only Acworth and Hampton municipal systems take full requirements service while participants in the ITS use that system for delivery of power from the Company and power generated from self-owned resources, and can use the ITS for off-system transactions.... Members of the Integrated Transmission System are required to maintain investment parity in the system and this is accomplished primarily a by the construction or purchase of transmission facilities.
Georgia Power Company response to Regulatory Guide 9.3 dated October 14, 1983, pp. 16-17.
?
An example of off-system usage of the ITS involves a proposal by Oglethorpe to transfer energy to the Seminole Electric Cooperative
, Inc.
(Florida) from Plant Scherer.
Although this agreement has not been finalized,, Georgia Power has agreed to schedule Oglethorpe's the Georgia-Florida border where Florida Power Corporation n turn will i transmit the energy to Seminole.
This type of transaction was not a competitive option open to Oglethorpe prior to the settlement agreem and the accompanying ITS agreement.
D. Formation of a " Joint Committee" As a direct result of the participation by Oglethorpe, MEAG and of Dalton in the Hatch and Vogtle nuclear plants and the Georgia Integrated Transmission System, a Joint Committee was formed I by three power entities and the Georgia Power Co.
Though not a power pool -
pg se, the joint committee acts like and affords its participants many of the benefits associated with power pool membership. The Joint Committee was formed to implement and administer the agreements and contracts between Oglethorpe, MEAG, Dalton and Georgia Power that h evolved with joint ownership of generation and transmissicn facilities since the antitrust settlement agreement in 1974.
"An important function of the Joint Committee is the system planning by the parties to the Joint Committeeco Agreement.
Accordingly, the four parties to the Agreement 4
exchange load forecasts, future generation and transmission expansion plans, and all other available data regarding specific planned facilities." .
The formation of this Joint Committee is an example of Georgia Power's willingness to afford greater participation in the planning of future generation and transmission facilities, an option crucial to newly emerging power systems.
E. Interconnections Georgia Power has participated in regional reliability studies that from time-to-time have required interconnections to the ITS whenever needed.
Connections to the ITS provided by Georgia Power since 1974 include the following:
r (1) Connections for federal hydroelectric projects in ,
1974 and 1975 (@ 115 and 230 kV respectively); -
(2) An interconnection (@ 230 kV) with the Savannah Electric and Power Co. in 1975; (3) An interconnection with the South Carolina Electric i
j and Gas Co. (@ 115 kV) in 1975; (4) An interconnection with Duke Power Co. (@ 500 kV) in i 1977; l
a Georgia Power response to Regulatory Guide 9.3 dated October 14, 1983, pp.
13-14 l
l l
l
(5) An interconnection with Florida Power and Light C'o.'
(@ 230 kV) in 1979; (6), Two interconnections (each 9 500 kV) with Florida Power and Light Co. and the Jacksonville (Fla.) ,
Electric Authority in 1982; (7) An interconnection with the City of Tallahassee, Fla.
(@ 230 kV) in 1983; and (8) An interconnection with the South Carolina Gas & Electric '
Co. (@ 230 kV) in 1986.
Oglethorpe Power Corp. has also entered into bilateral agreements with the Alabama Electric Cooperative and the South Mississippi Electric Power Association. The service schedules attached to the agreements
.- provide for a wide range of power and energy options including, !
emergency, economy and maintenance energy, wheeling services and .
short-term power and energy exchanges.
Georgia Power Co. has also entered into new interconnection agreements with other affiliates of the Southern Company syst'em and has been involved in discussions concerning power and energy exchanges with electric systems in surrounding states. These new interconnections l together with those involving Georgia Power and smaller competing power systems in Georgia have enhanced the reliability of the transmission grid in Georgia and stimulated the competitive process in bulk power supply throughout the state of Georgia.
l l .
I 1
. .) ,
2 F. Wholesale Power Developments -
Subsequent to the settlement agreement in 1974, Georgia Power filed rate schedules with the Federal Power Commission that allowed its wholesale customers to take partial requirements power. As a result of the filing, t
the smaller competing power systems in Georgia, which heretofore had been 1 35 full requirements wholesale customers of Georgia Power, can now more
\
i effectively shop for alternative power sources in Georgia and surrounding a
states. The institution of the partial requirements rate by Georgia Power coupled with the opening up of access to Georgia Power's transmission grid and baseload generation has enabled these smaller systems to move away from being full requirements customars of and fully dependent upon the Georgia Power Co.
i .
- Since July 1, 1980, MEAG has been providing supplemental power to the ,
Crisp County Power Commission. Prior to July 1,1980, Crisp County (a MEAG participant) had been taking its supplemental power requirements from Georgia Power.
Georgia Power Co. has also began serving new wholesale loads, largely through the allocation procedure scheduled by the Southern Company system.
l Oglethorpe Power Corp. converted to Georgia Power's partial requirements (PR) rate on July 1,1975; MEAG, in February of 1977; and the City of Dalton on June 1, 1977.
l
. - . - - , ,- - - - - -m ., . , _ , ,- -.-,-,-.,-,,c.- --...,--
"Several new wholesale customers situated outside of the Georgia territorial service area have been added through contracts for dedicated unit sales (" Unit - ;
Power Sales") and interruptible sales. The contracts' were negotiated by the operating subsidiaries of the Southern Company and Southern Company Services, Inc.
Georgia Power Company has a resulting assigned load
' ratio share of interruptible sales and specific capacity allocations of dedicated unit sales. The Company's new wholesale customers under interruptible sales contracts are:
Florida Power and Light Company; Jacksonville Electric Authority; Florida Power Corporation; the City of Tallahassee, Florida; Savannah Electric and Power Company;
, and Mississippi Power and Light Company. Customers added by dedicated unit sales contracts are Florida Power and Light Company, Jacksonville Electric Authority, and Gulf
- States Utilities (beginning in 1984)."
Georgia Power has not only provided partial requirements wholesale service to in-state, competing power systems, but has responded to requests from out-of-state systems with rate schedules for supplemental power and energy needs as well.
.- c I
G. Reductions in Projected Load Growth
~
System load requirements in the state of Georgia have not met the projections reported by Georgia Power during the antitrust construction permit review for Plants Hatch and Vogtle. Georgia Power has experienced a declining rate of increase for power and energy in its service territory since the mid-1970's. Georgia Power projected a territorial peak demand i
for 1987 of slightly over 34,000 MW in 1974. In its 1986 Regulatory Guide 9.3 update, Georgia Power projected a 1987 territorial peak demand of A
l Georgia Power response to Regulatory Guide 9.3 dated October 14, 1983, pp.
28-29.
. slightly more than 13,300 MW. Though Georgia Power's load has increased since 1974, it certainly has not grown as rapidly as anticipated in the mid-1970's. (These demand projections include the operations of MEAG, Oglethorpe, Dalton and Georgia Power's two full requirements customers, all of which have experienced similar reductions in the rates of growth of their systems.) As a result of these load growth projections, Georgia Power has had to curtail its expansion in generating capacity plans since the mid-1970's. The reduction in planned capacity additions was achie'ved in part by cancellation of the Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear units as well as various coal-ilrea units, the deferral of'other baseload capacity, changes in ratings of existing generating capacity, additional sales of unit capacity from existing plants and adjustments in contracted exchanges a
with wholesale customers. The cancellation and deferral of new baseload
_ generating facilities has made access to existing generation and I transmission facilities all the more meaningful to smaller competing .
power systems in Georgia Power's service area. '
V. Summary and Conclusions The generation and transmission of bulk power and energy in the state of Georgia has for many years been dominated by the Georgia Power Company.
A "In Addition to reductions in installed capacity, the Company (through its parent, The Southern Company) is marketing bulk power from available capacity to neighboring electric systems. For example, the company has agreed to sell the output from approximately 1,500 MW of its capacity in 1987 in connection with output sales from other Southern Company power plants." (Georgia Power response to Regulatory Guide 9.3 dated October 14, 1983, p. 8.)
During the construction permit review of Plant Hatch and Plant Vogtle, the staffs of the Department of Justice and the Atomic Energy Commission identified several instances where Georgia Power Company abused its market position and its market power at the expense of smaller competing power systems in Georgia. Georgia Power's activities had a stifling effect upon the competitive process in bulk power supply in Georgia and severely hampered the ability of competing municipal and cooperative electric systems to supply their customers with the most cost effective sources of power and energy available. After extensive negotiations involving Georgia Power, intervening power systems and the staffs of the Department of Justice and the Atomic Energy Commission, Georgia Power agreed to a settlement agreement which included in the Hatch and Vogtle 7
licenses a set of conditions designed to stimulate the competitive
- process in the Georgia bulk power services market. -
. The license conditions provided municipal and cooperative electric power systems, individually and through their broker representatives, ownership participation in Plant Vogtle and Unit 2 of Plant Hatch as well as ownership in the integrated transmission grid running throughout most of Georgia--heretofore controlled solely by Georgia Power Co. Moreover, the license conditions provided these competing power systems the means to effectively implement their newly acquired power and energy options by requiring Georgia Power to: (1) file partial requirements rates with
the Federal Power Commission; (2) coordinate and share ene'rgy reserves; (3) interconnect with qualifying Georgia power entities; (4) transmit bulk power over its transmission system, and generally treat all power systems in the state mere equally.
The operating license antitrust review is concerned wfth changes in the licensee's activities since the construction permit review that may create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws.
Staff has identified several groups of changes that have occurred since the construction permit review which are attributable to the licensees; however, these changes have largely been procompetitive and do not warrant remedial action by the Commission. The vast majority of these changes have materialized through the implementation of the antitrust license
. . . _ conditions attached to the Plant Vogtle and Plant Hatch Unit 2 ;
construction permits. Through their purchases in portions of Plant .
Hatch and Plant Vogtle (and portions of Unit 1 of Plant Hatch and various Georgia Power Co. fossil fueled plants which were not subject to the licensing commitments), as well as participation in the Georgia transmission grid, the municipal and cooperative power systems in Georgia are now active players in the Georgia bulk power market. Georgia Power has provided these systems with ownership in existing and planned future transmission facilities based upon each system's expected use of the transmission grid. Georgia Power has also provided interconnections and filed partial requirements power rates allowing newly emerging power systems to shop for power supply alternatives within and outside of the Georgia Power territorial service area. An example of this new found
independence is Oglethorpe Power Corporation's (Oglethorpe) ellergy exchange agreements with the Alabama Electric Cooperative and the South Mississippi Electric Power Association. Oglethorpe has also entered into negotiations to sell a portion of its Plant Scherer capacity to the Seminole Electric-Cooperative of Florida. Both Oglethorpe and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) have set goals of generating self-sufficiency and are capable of achieving these goals in .
the near future given the marketing tools provided by the settlement agreement and the emergence of competitive alternatives in the state of Georgia since the completion of the Vogtle construction permit review.
The formation of Oglethorpe and MEAG in 1974 and 1975 coupled with the successful implementation of the antitrust license conditions has resulted in a vastly different Georgia bulk power market than was apparent during the construction permit review in Plant Hatch and Plant -
Vogtle. The changes which have taken place in this market have largely
, been procompetitive, allowing smaller competitors to mature and contribute to the competitive process on going in the Georgia bulk power services market. Based upon the successful implementation of the antitrust license conditions to date and the lack of any significant negative competitive activities by the licensees since the antitrust review at the construction permit stage, staff recommends that no affirmative significant change determination be made pursuant to the application for an operating license for Unit 1 of Plant Vogtle.
l
6 s
. .e
- G r;-
APPENDIX A e
e OM 3 e
D
4 n=r am. n.
on om
[eparimetti of $]ustice p uhtuston,p.t. zosso -
i ";
lAAY 1 1974 2 i Howard K. Shapar, Esquire 1
Associate General Counsel U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Washington, D. C. 20445 ,
Re: Georgia Power Company
~ Hatch Nuclear Plant - Unit No. 2 AEC Docket No. 50-366A Department of Justice File 60-415-37 Georgia Power Company s Vogtle Nuclear Plant - Units 1-4 AEC Docket Nos. 50-424A, 50-425A, 50-426A,,50-427A
. Department of Justice File 60-415-60
Dear Mr. Shapar:
This has further reference to your request for i mm;q antitrust advice pursuant to the provisions of Section i 105 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, in l
,,,, regard to the above-captioned applications,
, I j By letters dated August 2,1972 for the Hatch unit and May 9, 1973 for the Vogtle units we advised you of ~
i our conclusion that Apolicant's market power and use of -
, that power indicated that a situation inconsistent with
- 4 the antitrust laws wct4.d be created or maintained by the issuance of unconditioned licenses for the construc-tion and oaeration of these units. Accordingly, we rec-ommended t1at the applications be made the subject of I evidentiary hearings. The Hatch application is the I subject of an existing proceeding that has proceeded
.. partially through prehearing discovery. The Vogtle ap-plication is awaiting Commission action on an AEC staff recommendation that it be consolidated for hearing with the Hatch application.
I Several months ago negotiations looking to a possi- '
ble resolution of the antitrust issues without hearing were commenced among the Applicant, the intervenors, l
i e
- w. ,-%- ,. --,,_,m,-- -m -
-e --wi-- e- --- - - - - - - -- --
Commission staff and representatives of the Depardhent of Justice. As a result of these negotiations, the Applicant has agreed to the inclusion in the Hatch and Vogtle licenses of conditions providing for, among other things, access to the Hatch and Vogtle units and any .
other nuclear generating units scheduled to commence commercial operation prior to January 1, 1989; coordina-tion and sharing of reserves; transmission services over Applicant's facilities; sales of partial requirements; and sales of power at voltages appropriate for the load
, to be served. A copy of the proposed license conditions l is attached. .
l
, .In our opinion, these commitments should provide com-i petitors and potential. competitors. of the Applicant with j _ comwei eive. n1en nneivn. nnwar w g ,__ _ ,,,a,L g,vuid m w
_ enai.e them to effectively compete with Georgia Power.
On the strength of these commitments and with the expecta-tion that the Commission will include them as' conditions to the licenses invoIved here, we conclude that it will not be necessary to proceed with antitrust hearings on the instant applications and that the existing proceeding
- g"e.J may be terminated.
$-- Sincerely yours, I,
THON h
E. PE i Assistant Attorney G neral l - Antitrust Division I
O 1
l e
l I ;
PROPOSED LICENSE CONDITIONS AEC DOCKET I!0S. 50-366A, 50-424A, 50-425A, 50-426A, AND 50-427'
- 1. As used herein:
c -
(a) " Entity" means any financihlly responsible person, private or public corporation, municipality, county,.
cooperative, association, joint stock association or business trust, owning, operating or proposing to cwn or operate equip-
~'
ment or' facilities within the State of Georgia (other than '
Chatham, Effingham, Fannin, Towns and Union Counties) fo'r the generation', transmission or d'istribution of electricity, provided that, except for, municipalities, counties, or rural electric cooperatives, " entity" is restricted to those which
,areorwillbepublicutih.itiesunderthelawsoftheSecteof b'Ib ,
Georgia or under the laws of the United States, and are or L- will'be providing retail electric service under a contract or rate schedule on file with and subject to the regulation of .
the Public Service Cor:nission of the State of Georgia or,any
,~
f regulatory agency of the United States, and, provided further, -
that as to municipalities, counties or rural electric co-operatives, " entity" is restricted to those which provide electricity to the public at retail within the State of Georgia (other than Chatham, Effingham, Fannin, Towns and Union Counties) or to responsible and Icgally qualified or- ,
ganizations of such municipalities, counties and/or coopera-
' e
- e *
- e .
e*
e
~
- tives in the State of Georgia (other than Chatham, Effingham, Fannin, Towns and Union-Counties) to,the extent they may bind
- their members. ,7.~
- - . .. (b) " Applicant" means Georgia Power Company, any -
successor, assignee of this license, or assignee of all o.r substantially all of Georgia Power Company's assets, and any
. j af,filiate or ' subsidiary of Georgia Power Company to the extent ,
i.t erigages e,
in the ownership of any bulk power supply genera-tion or transmission resource in the State of Georgia (but j.
- specifically not including (1) flood rights and other land rights j, E. acquired in the State of' Georgia incidental to hydroelectric
. generation facilities logated in another state an'd (2) facilities ,
a;; /. located west of the thread of the stream on that part of the i M[. i
..'hattahoochee C River serving as the boundary between the States - !
of' Georgia and Alabana). .
lo t
- 2. ' Applicant recognizes that it is often'in the
- i public interest for those engaging' in bulk power supply 'and I
I purchases to interconnect,- coordinate for reliability and economy, and engage in bulk power supply transactions in order i to increase interconnected system reliability and reduce the costs of electric p6wer. Such arrangements must provide for Applicant's costs (including a reasonable return) in con-nection therewith and allow other participating entities full access to the benefits available from interconnected bulk
% e
. O e.
power supply operations and must provide net benefits to Applicant. In entering into such arrangements neither Appli-
-cant nor any other participant should be required to violate the principles of sound engineering practice or forego a
, reasonably contemporaneous alternative arrangement with
~ ~
- other, developed in good faith in arms length negotiations
( ,ut not including arrangements between Applicant and its affiliates or subsidiaries which impair entities' rights
- e. .
. hereunder pore than they would be impaired were such arrange-
- ments made in good faith between Applicant and'a non-affiliate or ilon-subsidiary) which affords it greater benefits. Any e
such arrangement must provide for adequate notice and joint
, planning procedures consistent with sound engineering practice,
- g.a and must relieve Applicant from obligations undertaken by it l' '
in the event such procedures are not followed by any partici- -
~~
i pating entity.-
l p , ,
Applicant recognizes that each entity may acquire .
some or all of its bulk power supply from sources other than Applicant. .
In the implementation of the obligations stated in
, the succeeding paragraphs, Applicant and entities shall act in accordance with the foregoing principles, and these principles are conditions to each of Applicant's obligations herein undertaken.- .
- 3. Applicant shall interconnect with any entity
~
i
. 3 s
which provides, or which has undertaken firm contractual
- ~- ' obligations to provide, some or all of its bulk power supply from sources other than Applicant on terms to be included in
.% .lan interconnection agreement which shall provide for 3ppro-
,r. .
priate allocation of the costs of interconnection facilities; v; provided, however, that if an entity undertakes to negotit.te
~ a such a firm contractual obligation, the Applicant shall, in
, k6odfaith,negotiatewithsuchentityconcerninganyproposed
-t. ,
! . interconnection. ,
Such interconnection agreement shall pro- -'
l' ,
vide, with*out undue preference or discrimination, for the
':.. following, among other things,. insofar as consistent with the i .
j . :. . operating necessities of Applicant's and any participating ,
entity's systems: , ,
- 1. . *
(a$* m41uteunuce aud. cuvrdia.i.lun of reser ves ,
g""'"" -- .
including, where appropriate, the purchase and
. v v r- _~ . . . .,
sale thereof, (b) emergency support, l" e .
- (c) maintenance support,
, (d) economy energy exchanges, r.
(e) purchase and sale of firm and non-firm capacity
~ ~
and energy, (f) economic dispatch,of power resources within the State of Georgia, provided, however, that in no event shall such. arrangements ,
imposeahij,herpercentageofreserverequirementsonthe
. e ,
m.
4 9.
~4~ .
. s
. . i -
I j
. s participating entity than that maintained by Applicant f.or similar resources.
r 4. Applicant s. hall sell full requiremen'ts. power to anhentity. Applicant shall sell partia). requirements' power ;
to:any entity. Such sales shall be made pursuant to rates on I .
file with the Federal Power Cocnission, or any successor I
re ulatory agency, and subject to reasonable terms and con-dicions.
,, 5. (a) Applicant shall transmit (",transmis sion ,
service")# bulk power over its system to any entity or entities
- widh which it is interconnected, pursuant to rate schedules on t
l file with the Federal Power Commission which will fully com-t i
. pensate Applicant for th'e use of its system, ,to the extent 2 L.'- I
- d. \.*, i
- thpt such arrangements can be accommodated from a functional l
engineering standpoint and to the extent that Applicant has l
l surplus line capacity or reasonabiy available funds to finance' To the extent' the entity neyconstructionforthispurpose.
or entities are able, they shall reciprocally provide trans-
- mission service to Applicant. Transmission service will be .
pr6vided under this subparagraph for the delivery of power to
. . an entity for its or its members' consumption and retail di;stribution or for casual resale to another entity for (1) ita consumption or (2) its retail distribution. Nothing
> co ,tained herein shall require the Applicant to transmit bulk j *
~5- -
I, . .
i l
power so as to have the effect of making the Tennessee 1l Valley Authority ("TVA") or its distributors, directly or l: !
indirectly, a source of power supply outside the area. deter-n s 1
mined by the TVA Board of Directors by. resolution of tay 16, ,'
1966 to be the area for which the TVA or its distributors were the primary source of power supply on July 1, 1957, the date
'specified in the Revenue Bond Act of 1959, 16 USC 831 n-4.
(b) l -
Applicant shall transmit over its system from
, e.
any entity or entities with which it is interconnected, pur-suant to rate schedules on file with the Federal Power Commis-sion which will fully compensate Applicant for the.use of its ,
. y. . - , , . . . . . _ - . _ -
x system, bulk power which results from any such entity having
~
. excess capacity available from self-owned generating resources I
g- in the State of Georgia, to the extent such excess necessarily~
mmaiini
'results from economic unit sizing or from failure to forecast _
.. ~ i
[~ load accurately or from such generating resources becoming oper'a-p tional earlier than the planned in-service date, to the extent :
I that such arrangements can be accommodated from a functional ;
' engineering standpoint, and to the extent Applicant has
- surplus line capacity available.
- 6. Upon request, Applicant shall provide service to any entity purchasing partial requirements service, full requirements service or transmission service from Applicant at . l a~ delivery voltage appropriate for loads cerved by such entity,
, commensurate with Applicant's available transmission facilit-ies. Sales of such service shall be made pursuant to rates
( .
6- -
-on file with the Federal Power Commission or any~ successor j regulatory agency, and subject to reasonable terms and condi- - -
i
' i tions. -
. l
- 7. Upon reasonable notice Applicant shalp grant any entity the opportunity to purchase a'n appropriate share in
.- l_
- the ownership of, or, at the option of the entity, to purchase ap appropriate, share of unit power from, each of the follow- -
, ing huclear generating units at Applicant's costs, to the I .. -
-t extent the same are constr'ucted and operated:
Hatch 2,.Vogtle
- l. .
l .
1, Vogtle 2, Vogtle 3, Vogtle 4, and any other nuclear genera-ting unit constructed by Applicant in.the State of Georgia J
which, in the applicaiidn filed with the USAEC or its succes-i sm r...,, . i: =cheduled, for ::==:rcial Oper tien prier te 1- .
.- January 1, 1989. -
. I h""""'l .
l _
An entity's request for'a share must have regard for .
I the economic size of such nuclear unit (s), for the entity's .
, i
,1
- load size, growth and characteristics, and for de,ma'nds upon . ;
f Applicant's system from other entities and Applicant's retail ' l
. I l
l ' customers, all in accordance with sound engineering practice.
Executory agreements to accomplish the foregoing shall contain '
~
provisionsreasonabb.yspecifiedbyApplicantrequiringthe
! entity to consu=:nate and pay for such purch'ase by an early ,
date or dates certain. For purposes of this provision, " unit power" shall mean capacity and associated energy from a -
specified generating unit. ..
e
- 4 ,
I. -
. . s 4
5 .
~ '
i- 8. To effect the foregoing conditions, the follow-ing steps shall be taken: -
4 (a)
Applicant shall file with'the appropriate regulatory j authorities and thereafter maintain in force . r. -
as -
.l l
. . needed an appropriate transmis'sion tariff available '
j to any entity; . .
, j
~ (b) Applicant shall file with the appropriate 'egulatory r
6 authorities and thereafter maintain in fore.e as
~ i.-
- e, needed an appropriate partial requirements tariff -
p.
j available to any entity; Applicant shall havd its
' liability limited'to the partial requirements service I ~
- .. actually contracted for and the entity shall be made responsible for the security of the bulk power .
supply resources acquired by the entity from sources l
DEEI ~ ',. other than the Applicant;
(;_ - -
(c) Applicant shall amend the general terms and condi- I ,
tions of'its current Federal Power Commission tariff. ;
I i
and thereafter maintain in force as needed provis-I i
j ions to enable any entity to receive bulk power at .
, transmission voltage at appropriate rates; i
1
. (d) Applicant,shall not have the unilateral right to defeat the intended access by each entity to alter-native sources of bulk power supply provided by the conditions to this License; but Applicant shall ,
e retain the right to seek regulatory approval of g $
I 9 O . # .
~
changes in its tariffs to the end that it be~-adequ-ately compensated for services it provides, gpecifi- ,
callyincluding,butnotlimitedto,theprohlsions of Section 205 of the Federal Power Act; -
(e)' Applicant sha11 use its best efforts to amend any a
outstanding contract to which it is a party that
, contains provisions which are inconsistent with the conditions of this license, ,
j:
(f) ppplicant-affirms that no consent's are or will be-s, come necessary from Applicant's parent, affiliates j ,
or subsidiaries'to enable Applicant to carry out its obligations hereunder or to enable the entities to t
enj,oy their rights hereunder: -
'(g) All provisiens of these conditions shall be subject to and implemented in accordance with the laws of I
~
the United States and of the State of Georgia, as -
applicable, 'and with rules, regulations and orders i
l of agencies of both, as appl 1 cable.
. 4 S
9 i
e i .
l
e 9
S.
C.
- 1 APPENDIX B f
e W
eemam. 8
- , , , - , ----o -- - . - -
Ai,wt ant Arronury ocucnas.
, e# *d I:TRWTDawtWO4
[rj321rl111titi Df hitsliCC i $Uss!jingica, p.QI. 20530 i
A
'O & '97C E.
Howard K. Shapar, Esquire ~
. Executive Legal Director I --
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555 Re: Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 &
- i. .,
' 2, NRC Docket Nos. 50-424-A and 50-425-A Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Power Plant Unit No. 2 NRC Docket No. 50-366-A
Dear Mr. Shapar:
'I You have requested our advice pursuant to the provisions j of Section 105c. of t e Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
! in regard to amendmen a to the applications in the above-cited dockets, which would expand the ownership of the units to include Oglethorpe Electric Me,mbership Corporation (Oglethorpe), Municipal I' Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), and' the City of Dalton, Georgia.
i You will recall that the Department of Justice initially recommended an antitrust hearing with respect to these appliar i __
cations (Department's letter of August 2, 1972, concerning the Hatch unit; and letter of May 9, 1973, concerning the Vogtle i units). Subsequent to our rendition of such advice, Georgia -
Power Company, the intervenors, your predecessor Commission's-j .
Staff and representatives of the Department of Justice negotiated license conditions which, in our opinion, obviated i
the necessity of continuing the antitrust hearing proceedings.
As a result, we concluded, in our Hay 1,1974, letter to your 1 .
predecessor Commission, "In our opinion the commitments should i
- - provide competitors and potential competitors of (Georgia c Power Company) with competitive, alternative power supply
- * , sources, and should enable them to effectively compete with Georgia Power." The pending amendments are the fruition of
- negotiations between . Georgia Power Company and other systems which were commenced pursuant to the license conditions. The pending an.endments to the applications provide for participa-tion by the other systems in the Hatch unit and Vogtle units.
The systems which will become part owners of the instant units if the proposed amendments are approved by the Commission are with minor difference the intervenors in the antitrust M
t ',
s,.
proceeding which resulted from our initial advice -letters.
MEAG was created pursuant to a Idw passed in 1975 by the State Legislature of Georgia. 1/ Its membership. consists of 48 political subdivisions in Georgia, including the Crisp County Power Commission, all of which were intervep. ors in the antitrust proceeding. 2/ Oglethorpe was incorporated in August, 1974, and is presently composed of 39 distribution cooperatives located in the State of Georgia. 3/
Nembership in NEAG is open to any political subdivision owning and operating an electrical distribution system in Georgia on the date the law was passed. 4/ Membership in Oglethor pe is open to any electric membership corporation
, organized under the Electric Membership Corporation Act of Georgia. 5/ State law and the Bylaws of Oglethorpe set objective membership requirements. It thus appears that any.
existing electric system owned by a political subdivision of the State of Georgia interested in participating in UEAG has been afforded a reasonable opportunity to join that entity and, likewise, that any -intoronted coorcia electric -
N' wuge t o u ve uaa uau muc vpput can-l'tFto=jtiirE0glMhedpr #
Furthermore, representatives of MEAG and of Oglethorpe have stated that all such distribution systems which have expressed an interest in par ticipating have becone members. We note also C
N i 1/ 1975 Session of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia,
[_ 1 Ga. L. 1975, p. 107 et sec.; Ga. Code Ann. Section 34B-401, et seg.
2/ The municipal systems participated as a unit through thel Georgia Municipal Association; Crisp County Power Commission' intervened individually. Two municipal systems which were mem-bers of intervenor Georgia Municipal Association chose not to participate in MEAG.
3/ One cooperative, Okefenoke Rural Electric Membership Corpor-ation, renders service in both Georgia and Florida.
4/ Georgia Code Ann. Section 34B-427.
S/ Bylaws of Oglethorpe Electric Membership Corporation, Article 2, Section 1 (filed with the Rural Electric Administration in August, 1974). Distribution cooperatives are organized under the Electric Membership Corporation Act, Georgia Laws of 1937, page 644, et. seq.; Ga. Code Ann., Section 34B-1, et seg.
2
s that small electric systems were given the opportunity to participate directly in the instant nuclear units,:rather than through MEAG or Oglethorpe; the City of Dalton chose to accept this opportunity. ,].
MEAG and Oglethorpe, in addition to the purchase of ownership 'in the Hatch unit and Vogtle units, will purchase
~~
partial ownership of and the use of the high voltage trans-mission grid previously owned and controlled exclusively by the Georgia Power Company. As a result, they will have the capability of entering into bulk power supply arrangements
. with other electric systems. In addition, this immediate
-l, access to the transmission grid will provide alternative sources for wheeling arrangements for electric systems in
, Georgia, i e
- In our opinion, the addition of MEAG, Oglethorpe and the l City of Dalton as partial owners of the Hatch unit and the
- l Vogtle units will not create or maintain a situation incon-l i
sistent with the antitrust laws. .
Sincerely yours, S A THOMAS E.
E- AUPE -
l Assistant Attorneyjbeneral
- Antitrust Division '
r l
I emme 9 0 4
O f
.