Lawmakers Hold a Series of Meetings to Map Out an EV Future for Georgia
A state legislative committee met six times through the summer and fall to hash out the numerous sticky issues surrounding the inevitable transformation of Georgia’s automotive infrastructure as EV adoption grows.
After six meetings across four months, the Georgia Legislature’s Joint Study Committee on the Electrification of Transportation approved several recommendations but failed to come to a consensus on some of the most contentious issues surrounding the transition to EVs.
The recommendations, which could help direct legislation during the biennial session that starts in January, cover some of the basic infrastructure issues and include:
Requiring commercial EV charging stations to charge by the kilowatt hour instead of the current protocol of charging based on the time spent connected to a charger. This requirement recognizes the fact that some chargers take longer than others to provide the same level of charge.
Requiring state licensing and inspection of commercial charging stations, with the suggestion that the Georgia Department of Agriculture be responsible. The Department of Agriculture’s Fuel and Measures Division handles this function for the state’s gas pumps, as well as pumps for other fuels.
Making any future tax on EVs mileage-based, to equate with the amount drivers of gas-powered cars pay in gasoline taxes. Georgia drivers pay 29 cents a gallon in state gas taxes and 18 cents in federal taxes. (The state gas tax remains suspended under the Governor’s orders.) Gas taxes pay for roadway construction and maintenance.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in 2023 will launch a voluntary mileage-fee pilot program. The study committee recommended that GDOT report its findings by the end of the year.
One main issue on which the study committee could not reach a consensus was the question of allowing utilities into the charging station business. Convenience stores and other commercial enterprises that are likely to build charging stations argue that utilities would have an unfair advantage in that they could pass along the investment costs for charging stations to their ratepayers, undercutting the market price per kWh.
This and other issues will be taken up in the legislative process as committees and legislators work through proposed bills during the biennial session.
Major Milestone Reached as Plant Vogtle Unit 3 Fuel Loaded; Startup Testing Has Begun
Startup testing for commercial operation is proceeding through a number of progressive levels, called modes, leading to Unit 3 entering commercial operation, slated for April 2023.
On October 14, fuel load into the Vogtle Unit 3 reactor core began at Plant Vogtle. The fuel load process marked a historic and pivotal milestone toward startup and commercial operation of Unit 3.
During fuel load, nuclear technicians and operators from Westinghouse and Southern Nuclear safely transferred 157 fuel assemblies one-by-one from the Unit 3 spent fuel pool to the Unit 3 reactor core over the span of three days.
The last of the 157 fuel assemblies being loaded into the Vogtle Unit 3 reactor core.
Startup testing then began. It is designed to demonstrate the integrated operation of the primary coolant system and steam supply system at design temperature and pressure with fuel inside the reactor. Operators will also bring the plant from cold shutdown to initial criticality, synchronize the unit to the electric grid and systematically raise power to 100%.
This testing process leading to commercial operation takes a number of weeks. Vogtle Unit 3 is projected to enter service by April.
On hand for the Vogtle Unit 3 fuel load were (left to right) Mark Tanner, MEAG Power’s generation asset manager at Plant Vogtle, President & CEO Jim Fuller, Board Chairman & Marietta Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin, and SVP & General Counsel Pete Degnan.
Testing must progress through a series of “modes,” from Mode 6 to Mode 1. The modes are designed to progressively test operational and safety systems with increasing temperature and pressure, in Mode 2 reaching the point of “initial criticality” — or a nuclear reaction in the core. At this point, Unit 3 will have reached startup. Finally, in Mode 1, operators will raise the unit’s power to 5%, and synchronize the unit to the grid. The unit power output will be raised to various levels over several weeks, ultimately reaching 100% reactor output before beginning commercial operation.
Testing had reached Mode 3 by the time of publication of this issue.
Unit 4 Progress Update
In early December, Unit 4 completed cold hydro testing, which is required to support the last major test remaining for Unit 4, hot functional testing. Hot functional testing is projected to commence by the end of the first quarter of 2023. Unit 4 is slated to enter commercial operation by the end of the 4th quarter of 2023 or in the 1st quarter of 2024.
Cold hydro testing on Unit 4 confirmed the reactor’s coolant system functions as designed and verified the welds, joints, pipes and other components of the coolant system and associated high-pressure systems do not leak when under pressure. As part of the testing, the reactor coolant system was filled with water and pressurized above-normal operating conditions, then lowered to normal design pressure while comprehensive inspections were conducted to verify the systems meet design standards.
Plant Vogtle Unit 4
Other recent milestones for Vogtle Unit 4 include:
Closed vessel testing (CVT) – Completed in early November, this testing process verified that the pipes and valves in the Unit 4 reactor coolant system are installed as designed and helps ensure safety systems function properly. To carry out CVT on the plant’s passive safety systems, workers installed the reactor vessel head as well as the lower and upper reactor internals and flow restrictors which will be used during hot functional testing to mimic flow through the reactor core.
Rotation of turbine on turning gear – Also in November, the Unit 4 Turbine was rotated on its turning gear for the first time, demonstrating the turbine was assembled with quality and that integrated oil systems function as designed. The main turbine system consists of one high-pressure turbine and four low-pressure turbines. Rotating the turbines on the turning gear ties in all the oil systems and a significant number of supporting systems in the turbine island, which is a separate structure outside of the unit’s nuclear containment building. Once operational, the turbine will rotate at 1,800 revolutions per minute, propelled by steam produced by the unit’s two steam generators using heat transferred from the nuclear reactor. The turbine blades turn the generator rotor to produce electricity.
Pedestrian Safety a Hallmark of Participant Main Streets
Douglas and Acworth were featured in a recent issue of Georgia Trend magazine in an article highlighting the efforts of Georgia Main Streets cities to enhance pedestrian safety as a centerpiece of development efforts.
Following are details of the pedestrian safety-focused civic projects and initiatives that earned Douglas and Acworth recognition. Reprinted with permission from Georgia Trend.
When you hear “downtown revitalization” you might picture restaurants, brew pubs, boutiques and offices in character-filled, brick-clad buildings. Plants and trees line the well-lit streets and benches offer spots to watch small-town life go by. But without people – specifically, pedestrians – moving in and out of shops and restaurants while spending money in those businesses, downtowns wouldn’t survive.
That’s why enabling pedestrians to move around safely is a priority for Georgia’s Main Street program.
“The ultimate mission of Main Street is to help revitalize these historic commercial districts,” says Jessica Worthington, director of the Office of Downtown Development and Georgia Main Streets. “And when we’re looking at revitalization, our way of looking at it is holistic. That’s where that pedestrian experience comes into play. It’s all about how someone actually engages with the space – and for us that space is downtown. It’s not just, ‘How did somebody engage with one individual property?’ It’s, ‘How do we engage with the entire downtown? How do we move around? How do we navigate? Where do we park?’ And then, of course, wanting to make sure that downtown is a safe, inclusive environment for everybody.”
The Main Street movement has had a significant impact on historic downtown business districts across the country – and in the 105 Georgia communities that are program members.
To keep people strolling safely through the Main Streets of Georgia, downtown development and Main Street programs have gotten creative. And in at least one case, the efforts have been motivated by a personal tragedy.
“Pedestrian safety and that pedestrian experience [don’t] always have to be huge, multimillion dollar projects,” Worthington says. “[They] can be as simple as redesigning or repainting a crosswalk. So that way it’s bright and it gets your attention and becomes an aesthetically pleasing piece of art, but also becomes something that [makes] people slow down, pay attention and stop – again, enhancing that safety, that pedestrian experience.”
As cities and towns have looked beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and pedestrian traffic has picked up, Main Streets had their best year ever in 2021. “Our impact was $1.2 billion, which is the highest in the past 42 years that we’ve been doing this,” Worthington says. It’s a stat that makes it more important than ever to keep the growing numbers of pedestrians safe.
Here’s a look at projects in two cities – Acworth and Douglas – that have put pedestrian safety at the forefront and delivered more foot traffic to businesses downtown.
Douglas
Safety Increases Sales
For Dave Hughes, Main Street director in the South Georgia town of Douglas, downtown pedestrian safety is vital and personal. In February 2020, Hughes and his wife, Sheila, were walking across the street from her downtown shop to a restaurant for dinner.
“We were struck by a vehicle while we were in a crosswalk,” Hughes says. The driver was making a left turn and despite the well-lit streets, didn’t see the couple in the intersection. “She struck both of us,” Hughes says. “I [suffered] minor injuries, but my wife was killed.”
As he began to recover from the devastating accident, Hughes started thinking about what he could do to make sure this didn’t happen to anyone else in his town. As Main Street manager, he had the resources and know-how to address the issue.
“I decided that one of the biggest things I could do for downtown Douglas and as Main Street director was to improve pedestrian safety,” he says. Douglas has a vibrant downtown district of shops and restaurants, many of which sit along Main Street – Ga. Hwy. 441. Because it’s a state highway, Hughes had to work with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to implement his ideas. In summer 2020, he got on the phone with GDOT.
“We talked about pedestrian safety,” he says. “And they were pretty open to listen to whatever I had to say. One thing I noticed is that we didn’t have any signage downtown at any of our streets, nothing on 441 that relates to yield or stop for pedestrians. So, my first request was to get that signage put up.”
A few months later, GDOT obliged with yield and “stop for pedestrian” signs at the six intersections that form the core business district. The signs are close to the traffic lights so they are hard to miss, Hughes says, though he worries that people don’t pay enough attention to them.
And that brought him to his second request: To improve the crosswalks themselves. Again, it required discussions with GDOT because they cross Hwy. 441.
“We have a couple of mid-block crosswalks that you’re just taking your life in your hands when you step out,” Hughes says, “because traffic’s not going to stop. They just don’t.”
The second request was specifically for flashing beacons at the mid-block crosswalks, which GDOT added last fall.
“Pedestrians push the button, and the beacon comes on,” Hughes says. “Of course, at first, the flashing beacons would go on and drivers kept going. Four or five, six cars go through before someone would stop.” Now, drivers are used to seeing them and stop for pedestrians, he says.
High-intensity Activated crossWalK (or HAWK)
“Most everybody in the businesses downtown is thankful about it,” he says. “That made our downtown much safer.”
The changes also help increase sales for downtown businesses. When downtowns are safer for pedestrians, businesses see more foot traffic, people window-shop, stroll in and out of boutiques and stop for a meal or a snack.
“We have over 35 retail shops alone in the … core business district – retail shops and boutiques,” Hughes says. “We have 13 dining establishments within that area, along with 12 salons, spas and barber shops. It’s a busy downtown.”
And all that foot traffic, bringing more business to downtown, has brought about Hughes’ next project to keep pedestrians safe – lowering the speed limit through the district from 35 to 25 miles per hour. Sounds like it’s time for another call to GDOT.
Acworth
Adding a Symbolic Span
Acworth, in Northwest Metro Atlanta, is a classic rail town. For decades the still-active railroad has paralleled Main Street with two sets of tracks, effectively cutting one side of town off from the other when trains roar through and limiting access to the revitalized historic downtown shops, restaurants and businesses.
As Acworth grew, development moved from the Historic District across the tracks to the Park Side District, where Logan Farm Park offers walking trails, a huge playground, green space and picnic shelters. Apartments, a senior living facility, restaurants and that essential downtown space – parking – have also opened on the Park Side.
But because of the busy railroad, people on the Park Side were cut off from downtown, and vice versa. With the activities and places to enjoy on both sides of the track, connectivity became essential.
“Out of that redevelopment [of Park Side], the awareness came that we didn’t want to create two separate downtowns,” says Jeff Chase, Acworth’s director of downtown development, tourism and historic preservation. “We wanted that connectivity.”
The solution came in 2019 with the opening of a pedestrian overpass with an elevator and stairs that connects Park Side with the Historic District. The city explored a number of options before deciding to construct the bridge, and Chase says it’s become “not only a functional connector to our Park Side and really helped with the development we’re starting to see there, but it’s a symbolic connection between the two sides of the tracks.”
The design harkens back to an actual railroad bridge that might cross a river and has become “popular for photo ops and with people who just want to go out there and look at trains and look at the view,” he says.
In addition to the bridge, the city put in two pedestrian-activated electronic flashing crosswalks. One crosses Main Street just south of the Historic District at Red Top Brewhouse. The other crosses Southside Drive – the street on the Park Side that parallels the tracks – at the Cowen Historic Mill, an event venue.
Now that there is connectivity across the tracks, the next step is to create a trail master plan to connect Park Side, the Historic District and Lake Acworth, which is about a mile away.
It’s all in support of the mission of Main Street, Worthington says, and “how we look at engaging with businesses downtown, and instead of just thinking of them as this one building, this one property, it’s more holistic, as far as the experience.”
Georgia’s Exceptional Main Streets
There are 105 Georgia communities that participate in the Main Street program. Of those, 19 are known as GEMS – a Georgia Exceptional Main Street. These cities have risen above the expectations of the Main Street program by working in collaboration with business and civic leaders to provide a strong foundation for their downtowns.
Georgia’s GEMS are [MEAG Power Participants in bold]:
MEAG Power Recognizes 'Essential Connections' With Participants
In conjunction with the October West Point Board meeting, MEAG Power launched an outreach opportunity for employees to contribute directly to our 49 Participant communities.
MEAG Power is connected to our Participant communities by more than just the electricity and expertise we provide. We have essential connections on a personal, human level. Our Participant communities are made up of fellow Georgians, colleagues, neighbors and friends.
Essential Connections is an employee-driven and employee-funded initiative to strengthen the ties with our Participant communities through voluntary contributions of time and service. The program was started at the behest of employees who voiced their desire to serve our Participant communities in a meaningful way.
The MEAG Power Board Meeting held in West Point in October served as the program’s test event. MEAG Power employees bought supplies and raised money to benefit West Point Active Life, a community center for adults 55 and older. The center, which serves approximately 25-30 seniors daily, provides lunches and activities to promote health and community as well as monthly trips, dinners, and classes.
Employees contributed everyday household items such as paper products, health supplies, detergents, and kitchen supplies to help meet the needs of the West Point Active Life participants, many of whom have limited financial resources. In addition, employees raised $600 to be used for events and activities.
Steve Davis, center, gratefully accepted the supplies and check on behalf of West Point Active Life and related how meaningful the supplies and funds are to the hundreds of seniors who benefit from the center’s fellowship and activities.
MEAG Power CEO Jim Fuller and COO Steve Jackson helped deliver the contributions on behalf of the MEAG Power staff to Steve Davis of West Point Active Life. Also in attendance at the presentation were West Point Mayor Steve Trammell and City Manager Ed Moon.
Jim Fuller led the MEAG Power group in presenting a check and supplies to James Edwards, CEO of Mitchell House of Hope, which provides homeless families safe haven in times of displacement, teaches self-sufficiency and -empowerment skills, and facilitates the possibility of permanent housing.
This inaugural outreach provided opportunities to learn, measure success, and help our team plan for future initiatives.
The most recent outreach was in Camilla, in conjunction with our April Board meeting. MEAG Power representatives met with leaders of the Mitchell County House of Hope to deliver collected donations and a check for $1,000. The House of Hope is a non-profit that provides emergency and transitional housing, counseling and life-skills training to individuals in need.
The team has already met with representatives in Sylvester, site of the October Board meeting, to plan the next Essential Connections initiative.
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The finding signifies the unit’s readiness to load fuel and begin the startup sequence for commercial operation, slated for the first quarter of 2023.
On Aug. 3, Vogtle Unit 3 achieved a major milestone: receipt of the 103(g) finding from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This finding was confirmed in an official letter received by Southern Nuclear and signifies that the new unit has been constructed and will be operated in conformance with the Combined License and NRC regulations. No further NRC findings are necessary in order for Southern Nuclear to load fuel or begin the startup sequence for the new unit.
Vogtle Unit 3 Control Room
The team at the site continues working diligently to make final preparations for Unit 3 fuel load, initiate startup testing and bring the unit online. Over the next several weeks, well-trained and highly qualified nuclear technicians will continue work required to support loading fuel – which is already onsite, in the unit’s spent fuel pool – into the unit’s reactor.
This will be followed by several months of startup testing and operations. Startup testing is designed to demonstrate the integrated operation of the primary coolant system and steam supply system at design temperature and pressure with fuel inside the reactor. Operators will also bring the plant from cold shutdown to initial criticality, synchronize the Unit to the grid and systematically raise power to 100%. Unit 3 is slated to begin commercial operation by March 31, 2023.
Vogtle Unit 4 Turbine Building
Work continues on Unit 4, which is slated to enter commercial service by the end of 2023. Recent activity has focused on open-vessel testing, which is now complete. The majority of the remaining work comprises electrical construction: conduit, cables and terminations, with a focus on completing cable terminations.
Electrical craft levels and earned hours have improved, and the next significant milestone to be achieved is cold hydrostatic testing.
Steve Rentfrow, Angie Luna and Ed Moon Win Prestigious APPA Awards
Three Participants were among 23 individuals nationwide to win awards at the APPA National Conference in June in Nashville. Our Participant winners included an individual achievement award, rising star award and “7 hats” award.
Steve Rentfrow, former general manager of the Crisp County Power Commission in Cordele, received the James D. Donovan Individual Achievement Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the electric utility industry and to public power.
Steve spent nearly half a century working in the electric utility industry, with 45 of those years dedicated to public power. He started at the commission as a project engineer before being promoted to manager of engineering and later becoming general manager in 1994. Among his most significant accomplishments at the helm of the commission were leading the reconstruction efforts after Tropical Storm Alberto in 1994, which caused $8 million of damage to the county’s hydro facility, and leading recovery efforts from Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Steve recently completed a term on APPA’s Board of Directors after many years of service. And in July, he completed 27 years of service on the MEAG Power Board of Directors.
Angie Luna, deputy city manager – Power & Public Works, for the city of Acworth, received the Robert E. Roundtree Rising Star Award during the American Public Power Association’s National Conference in Nashville. The award is a scholarship presented to future leaders in public power. Angie will receive a stipend to travel to one of APPA’s conferences or training programs to advance her education and development in public power.
Angie has been on a rapid career trajectory since starting her service in public power in 2013. She joined Acworth Power in 2019 after serving at the Fort Valley Utility Commission and the city of Norcross in Georgia. As a director, and now deputy city manager, she has taken the initiative to participate in all city-sponsored leadership development programs. Angie currently oversees an operating budget of more than $14 million and 41 full-time employees.
She leads the city’s emergency preparedness leadership team and has significantly improved policies and communications with other city departments to ensure that the city is prepared for any crisis that could potentially disrupt service. She has also taken the initiative to apply for federal funding that enables the city’s first step toward the utilization of smart meters. Angie continuously strives to grow professionally as a public power leader.
Ed Moon, city manager of the city of West Point, received the Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award. The award recognizes managers of small utilities serving fewer than 2,500 meters. These managers have a very small staff and must assume multiple roles. The seven hats they must wear are: planning and design, administration, public relations, field supervision, accounting, human resources, and community leadership.
Ed has served cities in Alabama and Georgia and has 34 years of local government service recognized by the International City Management Association. In his current position, he led the City of West Point’s efforts with Kia Motors and six tier-one suppliers to bring 4,500 new jobs and $2.5 billion in investment to the city. He also managed the city’s efforts to revitalize the downtown area, eventually attracting Point University to locate its main campus in a vacant facility in downtown West Point.
Ed manages eight department directors, public works, police, fire, community development, administration, economic development, and recreation. He heavily focuses on human resources and has created many positions and started the community development department.
Inflation Reduction Act Offers Expanded Energy Tax Credits
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will extend and expand various energy tax incentives and give public power utilities direct access to such credits through a refundable direct payment tax credit.
President Biden on Aug. 16 signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which will extend and expand various energy tax incentives and give public power utilities direct access to such credits through a refundable direct payment tax credit.
The U.S. House on Aug. 12 passed the IRA after the U.S. Senate passed the bill earlier in August.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the value of energy-related tax incentives to be worth $25 billion in 2022 alone. However, because public power utilities are exempt from tax, they have not been able to take advantage of these incentives for projects they own. As a result, using the tax code to incentivize energy investments has excluded public power and cooperative utilities serving nearly 30 percent of all retail utility customers in the United States.
Instead, to take advantage of these energy tax incentives, tax-exempt, community-owned utilities have had to enter into power purchase agreements with third party developers — who often themselves would enlist a tax equity partner to monetize energy tax credits.
The result has been profound, according to the American Public Power Association (APPA). For example, recent surveys of public power utilities showed they own just two percent of the non-hydropower renewable energy used to serve their customers: the remaining 98 percent had to be secured through power purchase agreements.
The IRA corrects this by allowing tax-exempt entities to claim energy tax credits directly. Public power has long supported this approach, which will lead to lower costs, local jobs, and more equitable energy service for all customers. The IRA will benefit millions of utility customers nationwide served by not-for-profit, community-owned public power utilities.
“In addition to extending and expanding a variety of critical energy tax incentives, this piece of legislation will ensure that all utilities can benefit from these incentives, which encourage the critical energy investments they need to continue to use cleaner generating technologies,” said APPA President & CEO Joy Ditto. “In the end, this makes these incentives fairer and more effective.”
Power purchase agreements will continue to be useful tools and many public power utilities will continue to use them to secure access to energy facilities. But having the option to own and operate their own facilities means public power utilities can make the best choices on behalf of the more than 49 million Americans and thousands of businesses they directly serve.
Benefits for MEAG Power & Participants
The new law also includes a tax credit for owners of existing nuclear facilities, which would include Vogtle units 1 & 2, and Hatch units 1 & 2. The base credit is 0.3 cents/kWh, with a bonus credit rate of 1.5 cents/kWh with the satisfaction of prevailing-wage and apprenticeship requirements.
As the price of electricity increases, the credit is reduced. The credit-reduction formula reduces the credit by 16% of the excess revenue from electricity produced and sold greater than 2.5 cents/kWh times the amount of electricity produced and sold during the year. This applies to electricity produced and sold between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2032 (8 years).
The IRA does not apply to Vogtle 3 & 4, because they will receive previously established 45j tax credits.
MEAG Power is in the process of analyzing the new law and estimating the potential savings that the existing nuclear tax credit could provide.
On Sept. 27 from 2-3 p.m. EDT, the APPA will host a one-hour webinar “Public Power and the Energy Tax Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.” Registration is free and only open to APPA utility members. More information about the webinar, including a link to register can be found here.
