Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle is over budget and behind schedule, but it’s closer to coming online. The nation’s first new nuclear reactor built in decades reached 90 percent power Wednesday, with 100 percent power expected within the week.
Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning made the announcement during a shareholder meeting.
Engineers still have roughly 10 tests to complete before the unit syncs with the grid and begins sending electricity out to Georgians. Unit 3 and unit 4, when it becomes active early next year, will produce enough electricity for 500,000 homes and businesses.
The plant comes at a steep cost, however. Both units are more than six years behind schedule and their total price tag has ballooned to more than $35 billion, more than double what the company initially forecast.