SACE Media Advisory: Vogtle FOIA Teleconference

George Cavros | August 9, 2010 | Press Releases

LAWSUIT TO CHALLENGE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STONEWALLING
ON DETAILS OF $8.33 BILLION VOGTLE NUCLEAR LOAN GUARANTEE FOIA Requests Foiled, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to Seek Court Intervention to Force Real Disclosures; June GAO Report Sharply Critical of DOE Loan Guarantee Program Underscores Need for Taxpayers to be Able to Learn More.
ATLANTA, GA///NEWS ADVISORY///The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) will hold a phone-based news conference at 1:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday (August 10, 2010) to announce that it is suing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the agency’s failure to comply in a meaningful way with a lawful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the details of the controversial $8.33 billion loan guarantee awarded in February 2010 for two proposed nuclear reactors at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle in Georgia.

SACE will outline how DOE has stonewalled the public by failing to provide meaningful disclosures about the taxpayer-backed loan guarantee, which U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook to repay in the event that the Vogtle project defaults. The need for disclosure is seen as being particularly acute in the wake of a July 2010 Government Accountability Report (GAO) detailing a number of glaring deficiencies in the DOE loan guarantee program.

The Vogtle loan guarantee was the focus of a major presidential news conference announcement on February 16, 2010, but the details about the program remain shrouded in secrecy. As a direct result of the stonewalling by DOE between the time of the initial offer and the finalizing of the terms with Southern Company and its utility partners in Georgia, taxpayers have no information with which to assess the extent their pocketbooks are now threatened.

News event speakers will be:

  • Stephen Smith, executive director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy;
  • Ryan Alexander, president Taxpayers for Common Sense; and
  • Larry Sanders, acting director, Turner Environmental Law Clinic, Emory University School of Law, an attorney for SACE.

TO PARTICIPATE: You can join this live, phone-based news conference (with full, two-way Q&A) at 1:30 p.m. EDT on August 10, 2010 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. Ask for the “Vogtle FOIA” news event. CAN’T PARTICIPATE?: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at http://www.cleanenergy.org as of 6 p.m. EDT on August 10, 2010. CONTACT: Leslie Anderson, (703) 276-3256 or [email protected].

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) has been a leading voice for energy reform to protect the quality of life and treasured places in the Southeast for the past 25 years. Founded in 1985, SACE is the only regional organization primarily focused on developing clean energy solutions throughout the Southeast. For more information, go to http://www.cleanenergy.org .

Taxpayers for Common Sense is a national, non-partisan budget watchdog that advocates for accountability and transparency in government spending decisions.