Fast-track, low-cost construction starts with the owner

As we approach the threshold of a new round of ordering of base load generating capacity after a 15-year hiatus, power pant owners are taking a long, hard look at construction. The last round of base load construction was plagued with construction cost overruns and delays. Billions of dollars in cost overruns, many attributable to construction delays, were not allowed to be placed in utilities' rate bases. Those problems will not be tolerated in the next round. During the past few years the construction climate has changed. Non-utility power producers have demonstrated and ability to build small power plants-including many steam plants burning solid fuels-quickly and at surprisingly low costs. In this paper the cost-plus approach traditionally taken by more utilities, who will lead in the base-load construction phase, is being seriously questioned.