Georgia Power received unanimous approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on December 21 to complete the Vogtle 3 & 4 nuclear construction project.

The new units are co-owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities, and are the only new nuclear units currently under construction in the United States. The units are expected online in November 2021 (Unit 3) and November 2022 (Unit 4).

The two 1,100 megawatt reactors will be the first in the U.S. to use the Westinghouse AP1000 advanced pressurized water reactor technology. The technology is intended to allow nuclear cores to be cooled even in the absence of operator intervention or mechanical assistance.

The decision by Georgia regulators to approve continued construction followed review and evaluation of a recommendation presented to the Georgia PSC on August 31 by the Vogtle co-owners. The recommendation was based on the results of a schedule, cost-to-complete and cancellation assessment prompted by the bankruptcy in March of former primary Vogtle contractor Westinghouse and the subsequent rejection of a fixed-price contract.

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The decision includes new penalties for delays and cost increases in addition to penalties included in an agreement approved earlier in 2017 by Georgia regulators. Under the amended structure, shareholders will see an impact of approximately $750 million through November 2022, and the company has agreed to further reductions if the project does not meet the revised and approved in-service dates. The amount paid by customers for the two nuclear units will be reduced by more than $1.7 billion during the construction period.

In September, the company announced a new conditional commitment of approximately $1.67 billion in additional loan guarantees for the project from the U.S. Department of Energy. The company also received 100 percent of funds available from Toshiba. The payments, in addition to penalties, are contributing $2.75 billion toward the total cost of the project.

Southern Nuclear is project manager at the site with Bechtel managing daily construction efforts.