Progress Energy pushed back the scheduled completion of planned new nuclear reactors in Florida and North Carolina until after 2020, CEO William Johnson was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
âThe timetable for those plants has slipped,â Johnson said. âTheyâre now 2020 or later.â
Progress, based in Raleigh, N.C., remains âcommitted to nuclear expansionâ and may buy stakes in other reactor projects, said Johnson, whose company agreed last month to be bought by Duke Energy Corp.
The companyâs own reactor construction plans will be âmuch more feasibleâ after the merger because of the combined companiesâ âmuch bigger balance sheet,â he said. The cost of building a two-reactor nuclear plant is about $13 billion, Johnson said.
Progress had âcasual conversationsâ with Scana Corp. and state-owned utility Santee Cooper about taking a stake in the reactor project near Jenkinsville, S.C., Johnson said. Talks will get âmore realisticâ when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants a construction and operating license for the plant.
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