In his Wednesday column about the Public Service Commission and Georgia Power, Tom Crawford has done what most journalist do today — tell part of the story. I do not disagree with anything he says about the large cost overruns on Georgia Power’s nuclear plants. However, his limited knowledge of the utility industry does not allow him to tell the whole story, only to berate the PSC and Georgia Power for what he feels is poor management.

The commercial nuclear industry became very active in the very early 1960s and into the 1970s. It was new technology and many utilities, in addition to Southern Company, saw great economic potential and jumped on board. Many plants were planned, started and built, and all had massive cost overruns. The reasons were not poor management but the new technology was constantly looked at and changes required.

The Nuclear Regulatory Agency, later the Department of Energy, and every tree-hugging environmental group made demands and caused major and costly delays in court battles that added billions to original cost. Some of the changes were beneficial, many were not, and all the court delays were extensive and not required. It was like planning to build a four-bedroom, three-bath house and the plans being changed to make it six bedrooms, five baths, with a bomb shelter in the basement and a 10-foot wall with armed guards around the perimeter. Obviously, the cost would go up, and many of these features were not needed but were imposed on utilities by the government and courts.

What was the final outcome? Most of the plants were built with delays and cost overruns. But over the years, they:

• Have saved billions of dollars in the cost of electricity with zero fatalities and zero air pollution. They have been tremendous economic success stories for every utility, with the exception of Three-Mile Island.

• Compare Georgia Power and Southern Company rates today with utilities around the nation. They are among the lowest.

• Compare forced outage rates that lead to brownouts and blackouts for customers. Southern Company Service is outstanding in the hottest of summer days and the coldest winter days.

• When emergency storms hit, many customers lose electric service, but look how fast Southern Company responds.

• One of the reasons the South has grown so much is economical and secure power. There are nuclear plants in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.

• Look at utilities all over the country that built the initial nuclear plants and completed them in the 1960-1985 period, and although all had cost overruns and delays beyond their control, all eventually saved their customers billions in electrical cost.

If Mr. Crawford wants to throw rocks at the PSC and Georgia Power, he needs to look at the big picture and the many benefits they have provided the state, not just cherry-pick problems due to his lack of knowledge and understudying about what he chooses to write about.

Frank Frederick
Gainesville