watch Power Lines

About the Film

Power Lines is a short documentary about the expansion of Plant Vogtle, a nuclear power plant located in Waynesboro, Georgia. With a timeline already five years behind schedule and a current price tag of more than $13 billion over original estimates, the addition of two nuclear reactors has proven to be a black hole for both citizens of Waynesborough and the state as a whole.

Ratepayers across Georgia finance the construction of these new Vogtle units through a fee on their monthly power bills, a process fraught with mismanagement and seriously lacking in transparency. Meanwhile, Georgia Power stakeholders and partners have no incentive to ensure its timely completion since the company continues to profit from cost overruns. 

Waynesboro and surrounding communities have a complex relationship with Plant Vogtle. With over 40% of the population living below the poverty line, citizens recognize the potential economic opportunity the additional units offer. Yet attached to that opportunity are environmental and health hazards, not to mention grave concerns surrounding serious flaws in the reactors' design. This film gives voice to concerned community members who feel they shouldn’t have to sacrifice their safety or the health of the land they’ve owned for generations, just because powerful institutions decided to set up a dangerous camp in their backyard.  

And yet, Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC), the agency elected to regulate utilities in the state, continues to approve the expansion despite significant mismanagement, the state’s already sufficient energy supply, and potentially hazardous reactor design flaws. While the PSC should be ensuring that Georgians have sufficient access to safe and reasonably priced electricity, they continue to satiate the utility companies that finance nearly 70 percent of the members’ combined election campaigns.

This film endeavors to educate Georgians about a widely unknown issue, so that as they pay their power bills each month or turn on their lights each day, they understand which lines of power dictate important aspects of their day-to-day lives. Anchored in the idea that knowledge is power, we believe that understanding this important issue is the first step to effecting sustainable change.