The utilities that are applying for permission to build new plants, at least in the regulated rate of return states in the Southeast, are required to prove that they have carefully evaluated all options. They have to present their case to the appointed Public Utility Commissions and show why they believe they have made the most cost effective long term choice for supplying the reliable electricity that they have agreed to provide.

The PUCs have a responsibility to the residents of the states where they live to ensure that electricity is not only cost effective, but also reliable.

Short term solutions that cover a brief period of time can sometimes be made to look less costly, but they often ignore the uncertainties associated with the cost of fuel for competitive facilities.

If you are an electrical customer living in a territory where there are nuclear power plants and fossil fuel power plants operating, take a good hard look at your electrical bill sometime. Note the fuel adjustment charges that are applied to the portion of the bill that is supplied by coal, oil or natural gas and trace the magnitude of that cost over a few years.

The utilities that are applying for permission to build new plants, at least in the regulated rate of return states in the Southeast, are required to prove that they have carefully evaluated all options. They have to present their case to the appointed Public Utility Commissions and show why they believe they have made the most cost effective long term choice for supplying the reliable electricity that they have agreed to provide.

The PUCs have a responsibility to the residents of the states where they live to ensure that electricity is not only cost effective, but also reliable.

Short term solutions that cover a brief period of time can sometimes be made to look less costly, but they often ignore the uncertainties associated with the cost of fuel for competitive facilities.

If you are an electrical customer living in a territory where there are nuclear power plants and fossil fuel power plants operating, take a good hard look at your electrical bill sometime. Note the fuel adjustment charges that are applied to the portion of the bill that is supplied by coal, oil or natural gas and trace the magnitude of that cost over a few years.