Southern Chief Financial Officer Dan Tucker told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday that the company recognizes it's committed more than $10 billion to building the plant but may never recover more than the $7.2 billion limit in construction costs set by commissioners. Customers could be asked to pay $680 million of the additional construction and financing costs recorded Thursday, although ultimately that will be up to regulators at the Georgia Public Service Commission. Georgia Power's 2.6 million customers are already paying the financing cost of the third and fourth reactors at Vogtle on monthly bills, a total of $3.5 billion through December 2020.
Vogtle is the only nuclear plant under construction in the United States, and its costs could deter other utilities from building such plants, even though they generate electricity without releasing climate changing carbon emissions. said it lost $215 million in the fourth quarter, or 20 cents per share, while earning a profit of $2.39 billion, or $2.26 per share, for the year. The parent company took a further $920 million loss on the reactors and warned it could have to write off another $460 million depending on how a dispute with Vogtle co-owners turns out. Southern Co., the Atlanta-based parent of the Georgia utility, made the announcements as it released its annual earnings Thursday. now says the first of two nuclear reactors it's building at Plant Vogtle near Augusta might not begin generating electricity until as late as March 2023 and the reactors will cost their owners nearly $30 billion. The PSC will hold hearings on the rate hike request later this year and vote on the proposal in December.Georgia Power Co. “We want to be a good partner in supporting the buildout of that infrastructure,” Womack said. A shortage of EV charging stations across Georgia has been identified as a barrier to developing the technology. Georgia Power also plans to increase its commitment to electric vehicles. The company is pledging to add 6,000 megawatts of power from renewable energy by 2035, doubling its generating capacity from renewable sources. In the rate-case filing, the utility is proposing to retire 3,600 megawatts of generating capacity from coal- and oil-burning power plants by 2028. Georgia Power has been reducing its reliance on fossil fuels in recent years. “Throughout this rate case proceeding, Sierra Club will fight to make sure customers aren’t stuck paying the bill for coal plants that Georgia Power doesn’t even need.” “Sierra Club is carefully reviewing Georgia Power’s proposal, and we’ll be looking for any unreasonable investments in existing, uneconomic fossil fuel plants as well as how the company plans to deal with the cost of coal ash clean up,” added Charline Whyte, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Georgia. “If the Public Service Commission approves this steep rate hike, it will add a significant burden to already stretched household budgets.” “Georgia Power’s customers already pay some of the highest electric bills in the country,” said Liz Coyle, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch. “That actually puts downward pressure on rates.”Įnvironmental and consumer advocates criticized the proposed rate hike as excessive. “We’re requesting to maintain the financial integrity of the company,” Womack said of the ROE proposal. Georgia Power also is seeking a return on equity (ROE) of 11%, up from the 10.5% ROE the commission approved in the utility’s last rate case three years ago.
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