A new reactor at Georgia Power’s nuclear power plant has entered commercial operation, more than seven years after the reactor’s original completion date of April 2016.
Georgia Power announced Monday that Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, has completed testing and can now power 500,000 homes and businesses throughout the Southeast.
Vogtle Unit 3 is the first newly constructed nuclear reactor to enter service in the U.S. in more than 30 years. A fourth reactor is scheduled for commercial operation by March of next year.
Almost every electric customer in Georgia will pay for Vogtle. Public service commissioners have approved a monthly rate increase of $3.78 to finance the operating costs of Unit 3, which will likely hit residential customers’ bills in August, two months after a $16-a-month increase to pay for higher fuel costs.
