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Progress expects twins

The company says the Levy County reactors will be needed to meet demand in 2018.

By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Published June 2, 2007

Progress Energy expects to build twin nuclear reactors at a site in Levy County, even as the utility is delaying plans for a new nuclear generator in North Carolina.

Forecasts show Progress will need an additional 1, 000 megawatts of electricity to supply Florida customers in 2018, two years after the first reactor would begin producing power, said spokesman Buddy Eller.

Progress hasn't yet committed to building the Levy nuclear plant or a specific number of generators. But the company's plans call for meeting extra demand in 2018 with a second reactor at the site, said Eller.

The project, especially with two reactors, would bring an economic windfall to rural Levy County. Building a dual-reactor plant would cost about $5-billion, about twice the cost of a single reactor. The entire 2006 property tax roll for the county was $2.2-billion.

Some 2, 000 workers would be building the plant during peak construction. When finished, it would employ more than 600 people at average annual salaries between $80, 000 and $90, 000, Progress said.

Progress announced in December it had a contract to buy 3, 000 acres in Levy, 8 miles north of its Crystal River Energy Complex in Citrus. The facility has a nuclear reactor and four coal-burning generators.

The company faces years of federal and state regulatory reviews and could pull the plug even after construction starts.

But Progress favors nuclear power over plants that burn fossil fuels to supply customers in 35 counties, most in West and Central Florida.

"Nuclear power clearly provides cost stability, and benefits with no greenhouse gas emissions and lessening of our dependence on foreign fuel markets, " said Eller.

On Wednesday, Progress said it will delay building a reactor at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Raleigh, N.C.

The utility instead is launching an energy-conservation program aimed at getting the average customer to use 10 to 15 percent less power.

Progress will offer its 1.2-million North Carolina customers home-energy audits, help customers fix leaky air ducts and tune up air conditioners.

In Florida, Progress has an aggressive energy-saving program that dates to when local customers were served by Florida Power.

About a quarter of its 1.7-million customers are in a program that lets Progress cut off power temporarily to heating and air conditioning systems, water heaters and pool pumps during peak demand periods. Participants get a credit on their monthly bill.

State regulators last year approved a new initiative for Progress to pay incentives to homeowners for installing solar water heaters and making home improvements that save energy. The program's cost is paid by all customers through a charge on their monthly bills.

Information from the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. was used in this report.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified June 1, 2007, 22:56:08]