University Daily Kansan, June 5. 1985
Page 12
Debate about Wolf Creek continues at hearings
By Jill Ovens Staff Reporter
TOPEKA — the debate over the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant has simmered for 10 years now, sometimes boiling over in public protests, but more often in suburban neighborhoods of attorneys at formal hearings.
The Kansas Corporation Commission has been conducting hearings in Topека since May 13 to determine the feasibility of a project for the plant the utilities can recoup.
The three utilities that own the power plant are trying to recoup construction costs through proposed rate increases to customers.
The Kansas Gas and Electric Co. or Wichita owns 47 percent of Wolf Creek in partnership with the Kansas City Power and Light Co., which also owns 47 percent, and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, a company comprised of 25 rural electric companies that owns the remaining six percent.
The commission yesterday began a series of public hearings to allow consumers to present their cases. Beginning with two hearings in Wichita, the commission plans to
conduct hearings in 11 cities in the next three weeks.
Technical hearings will resume June 17 in Topeka when KCC staff will outline their arguments for the utilities' requested rate increases.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license Monday that will allow the plant near Burlington to operate at full power. Construction of the plant almost is complete and commercial operation is expected to begin in September.
KGGE is requesting an increase of $370.9 million in revenue from its 240,000 customers — an increase of nearly 100 percent — to be phased in over five years.
If KGGE's requested increase is approved, its customers will pay an increase of $20.38 on an average monthly residential utility bill in the first year. Over the proposed five-year phase-in period, the equivalent bill would be $100.36, an increase of about 97.5 percent over the current rate.
KC&P, L, Kansas City, Mo., is requesting a rate increase from the company one-time
increase of $90.5 million. KEPCo is asking for a $40 million increase.
The KCC completed the first round of hearings in Topeka on Saturday. The commission's staff and others have tried to show that mismanagement and excess capacity have caused cost overruns in building the plant.
They have argued that the utilities should not be allowed to charge ratepayers for the utilities' mistakes.
But the utility companies say they have managed the construction of the plant prudently and if they are not allowed the full amount of their rate increases, their financial strength will be at stake.
Utility witnesses blamed changes in federal regulations governing nuclear power plants for 58 percent of the increased costs of Wolf Creek
But witnesses agreed under cross-examination that problems had arisen with the construction of the plant that had increased its cost.
Charles Huston, a Steamboat Springs, Colo., management consultant, testified that one contractor. Daniel International Corp., had been paid for work that was taken away from
them and given to other contractors,
who were also paid for the work.
Opponents to the large rate increase also have questioned whether the plant's capacity was needed by the utilities.
James Lucas, manager of systems operations for KG&E, said that Wolf Creek was designed to handle normal demand for electricity. Plants using methane fuels, such as natural gas, could be used as needed to cope with peak load.
Under Lucas' plan, the relatively new La Cygne I coal-fired plant could be shut down for seven months a
year. Yet gas-fired plants near Wichita, which are more expensive to run, still will be needed to maintain voltage requirements because Wolf Creek is so far from Wichita.
The utility companies have argued that although a nuclear plant is more expensive to build, it is cheaper to run, and they have defended their choice of a nuclear plant over other options.
Arthur Boyle, president and chairman of the board of the KCPLR of Kansas City. Mo., argued that his company was so dependent on coal
fuel that it needed the diversification the nuclear option offered them.
Among other items, increased concern over acid rain, which is caused by the burning of coal, led companies to look to other alternatives in the 1960s, as increased use of firefighters from fryer plant fires resulted in higher costs.
Attorneys for the KCC and for other interested parties have questioned the lack of specific studies commissioned to determine the extent of continuing Wolf Creek in the light of industry trends in the late 1970s.
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