Two Co-Owners of Vogtle Nuclear Additions Sue Over Cost Overruns

June 28, 2022--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the cost to add two units to the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station continues to spiral upward, and the units' in-service dates have again been delayed, two co-owners filed separate suits against project manager Georgia Power for the 2,244-megawatt (MW) unit addition. The in-service dates are now set for 2023, and the project carries a price tag of more than $30 billion.

The separate suits were both filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia. Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Tucker, Georgia), owner of 30% of the unit addition, and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) (Atlanta), owner of 22.7% of units 3 and 4, sued Georgia Power (Atlanta, Georgia), a unit of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia). Georgia Power owns 45.7% of units 3 and 4. The fourth co-owner of Vogtle 3 and 4 is City of Dalton Utilities (Dalton, Georgia), which owns 1.6% of the nuclear construction project.