Southern Company said last week it will likely miss the first deadline this fall for completing the first of new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in east Georgia.
The new delay on the project, already years behind schedule and billion of dollars over budget, will likely mean higher rates for Georgia Power customers.
In a filing with the Public Service Commission on Friday, the company cited the need for additional “remediation work. Georgia Power's parent company assured investors for years that by the November 2021 deadline the first of two new reactors would be in commercial operation.
Georgia Power customers already have a fee on their monthly bills related to the construction, even though the reactors at Plant Vogtle, south of Augusta, aren't yet generating electricity. Additional costs related to the latest delay could also be passed on to customers.
If more delays occur, the PSC could impose a short-term reduction in the amount of profit it allows the company to make. But long-term, customers could be paying for the construction for decades.
In addition to Georgia Power, a number of municipal electrical systems and electric co-ops are contractually obligated to use electricity from the plant once it goes online.
The Vogtle expansion is the only major commercial nuclear power expansion project currently underway in the United States.
