The timeline for completing the Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion will be delayed 18 months, Georgia Power Co. and Southern co. announced in late January.

The two say they were informed by the project’s prime contractors, Westinghouse Electric Co. and CB&I/Stone and Webster, that the first two AP1000 nuclear reactors at the plant won't be finished until the second quarter of 2019. The second reactor won’t be ready until the second quarter of 2020.

Georgia Power spokesman Jacob Hawkins says the delays may add to short-term financing costs-the project was originally estimated to cost $4.5 billion.

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Georgia Power says in the filing that it had not agreed to any changes to the completion dates and did not believe that the revised forecast "reflects all efforts that may be possible to mitigate the … delay." The company adds that, under the engineering, procurement and construction (EP&C) agreement covering the construction project, the contractor is responsible for costs related to the delay.

Georgia Power's partner in the project, Oglethorpe Power Corp., says that "we expect that each additional month delay beyond the previously projected in-service dates for Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 of the fourth quarter of 2017 and the fourth quarter of 2018, respectively, would increase our previously disclosed project budget of $4.5 billion by approximately $28 million per month."

Hawkins says that the $2.3 billion in customer benefits over the projects' expected 60-year lifespan would “ offset those short-term costs.”

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