“It has to be one of the greatest wastes of money in any state’s history,” Alan Greenblatt writes.

In the first line of his piece on failed nuclear plants in South Carolina, Alan Greenblatt speculates, “It has to be one of the greatest wastes of money in any state’s history.”
The story begins 12 years ago:
“Back in 2006, South Carolina, along with several other states, passed legislation to try to jumpstart the moribund nuclear construction industry. At the time, energy was more expensive than it is today and there was talk of Congress perhaps imposing a carbon tax. In states with growing populations, encouraging nuclear energy through a new approach seemed like a good idea.”
What also seemed like a good idea was a financing strategy that had utility customers paying for the plants as they were built, instead of being presented with a bill once they were finished.
Which is how those customers have paid $2 billion into projects that will never generate electricity; in fact, even though work has ceased, and the company contracted to build the plants went bankrupt last summer, and an audit uncovered faulty designs and poor management, South Carolinians are still paying $37 million per month to South Carolina Gas & Electric and Santee Cooper.
“The state is now trying to figure out who’s to blame, and who will pay,” Greenblatt writes, noting that it’s unlikely the utility companies could refund ratepayers even if the state demanded it, that they both claim they can’t continue to operate if the payments cease.
FULL STORY: South Carolina Spent $9 Billion on Nuclear Reactors That Will Never Run. Now What?

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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Tenant Advocates: Rent Gouging Rampant After LA Wildfires
The Rent Brigade says it's found evidence of thousands of likely instances of rent gouging. In some cases, the landlords accused of exploiting the fires had made campaign donations to those responsible for enforcement.

Seattle’s Upzoning Plan is Ambitious, Light on Details
The city passed a ‘bare-bones’ framework to comply with state housing laws that paves the way for more middle housing, but the debate over how and where to build is just getting started.

DOJ Seeks to End USDOT Affirmative Action Program
The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program encouraged contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses in the transportation sector, where these groups are vastly underrepresented.
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