TCS has documented the red flags with the Vogtle project since it first applied to the program in 2008. Further, one project partner, MEAG, has yet to receive their portion of the project loan guarantee, raising more questions about Vogtle’s financial footing. But since the award the project has only encountered additional cost increases and schedule delays raising the issue of whether or not the project will reach completion. In a shocking move, DOE assessed the subsidy cost to taxpayers at $0–effectively saying the loan guarantee has no risk for taxpayers. Last year DOE LGP finalized a $6 billion loan guarantee to Georgia Power for a pair of nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. No new funding does not mean taxpayers should rest easy. DOE is currently reviewing applicants for the fossil energy portion of the program and is in the midst of a new nuclear energy solicitation for applicants that includes an expanded portfolio of small modular reactors and upgrades at existing facilities. Of the existing loan guarantee authority, $8 billion is slated for fossil energy, $4 billion for renewable energy and efficiency, and $12 billion for nuclear energy. But Department of Energy (DOE) emphasized that they plan to use the $24 billion already available. The President’s budget request includes no new loan guarantee authority for the Title 17 Loan Guarantee Program (LGP), most well-known for its award and subsequent default to the failed solar company, Solyndra. coal, oil, and gas) and represent a fair return to federal taxpayers. A 12 percent royalty, as has been proposed in various bills, would be in line with other onshore extractive industries (i.e. Many of these proposals have included a significantly higher royalty rate than the five percent rate included in the President’s budget request. Legislation proposing a royalty rate for the hardrock mining industry has been introduced in previous Congresses. Making matters worse, companies often abandon their mining sites once they are no longer profitable-forcing taxpayers to pay for reclamation costs. Under the General Mining Law of 1872, the hardrock mining industry is able to extract valuable taxpayer-owned hardrock minerals such as gold and silver from public lands for free. The hardrock royalty proposal is estimated to generate $80 million over ten years, and the AML fee on hardrock production is estimated to generate $1.8 billion through 2025. Similarly to previous budget requests, this year’s budget calls for a minimum five percent royalty for hardrock mining and a new Abandoned Mine Land (AML) fee. Cut through the partisan rhetoric and talking points with TCS experts and guests for the facts about what’s being talked about, bandied about, and pushed in Washington.
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