That is totally bogus response. There are many reliable stories on the internet which corroborate my initial post. Here are some of them:
Article 1
The Georgia Public Service Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a final agreement pertaining to billions of dollars that Georgia Power will pass on to its customers for costs related to building two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.
“The parties agreed that $7.562 billion is a reasonable and prudent total construction and capital costs for the project to be included in the rate base,” said George Brown, utilities analyst at the PSC. “Any additional project construction capital cost above that amount will be the responsibility of the company and not the ratepayers.”
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Article 2
State regulators voted Tuesday to pass most of the tab for Plant Vogtle’s two new nuclear reactors on to Georgia Power customers, providing a final answer to the question of who would pay for the project’s budget overruns and triggering another major rate increase early next year.
The plan, approved unanimously by the five elected members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), allows Georgia Power to charge ratepayers for $7.56 billion of the $10.2 billion the company ultimately expects to spend completing the nuclear plant near Augusta. The company and shareholders of its parent, Southern Company, will absorb the remaining $2.63 billion of the project’s construction costs.
The costs approved Tuesday come on top of a monthly surcharge Georgia Power customers have shouldered for years to pre-pay for Vogtle’s expansion and on top of recent hikes approved by the PSC.
The PSC’s vote means residential customers will face another increase of about 6% in their monthly bills after Vogtle’s second new reactor, Unit 4, comes online. Georgia Power has said Unit 4 will be complete by the end of the first quarter next year.
The average Georgia Power residential customer’s monthly bill already jumped about 3.2% this summer, when Vogtle’s first new reactor — Unit 3 — entered operation and $2.1 billion in construction costs were placed into rates.
Tuesday’s vote means ratepayers on Georgia Power’s standard residential plan, the company’s largest group of customers, will feel a cumulative 10% increase in their monthly bills as a result of Vogtle’s capital and construction costs. For the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, that means an increase of roughly $14.38 to their monthly bills, according to calculations by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution based on Georgia Power rate tables.
Adding in those financing costs, taxes and the cost of replacement fuel, the bill Georgia Power customers will ultimately cover for Plant Vogtle’s expansion is now $12.43 billion, according to calculations by the PSC’s staff.
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Article 3
ATLANTA - Georgia Power customers’ energy bills are about to go up again. The utility company is bringing two new nuclear reactors online. State regulators on Tuesday approved a plan to let Georgia Power pass the cost onto consumers. This is on top of rate hikes the company pushed through earlier in the year.
The public service commission approved the $10.2-billion plan to cover cost overruns for the new reactors at the Vogtle plant near Augusta. The company will pay $2.63 billion. Customers will shoulder $7.56 billion.
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Article 4
https://www.fitchratings.com/research/corporate-finance/fitch-rates-georgia-power-company-senior-notes-a-22-02-2024
Fitch Ratings - New York - 22 Feb 2024: Fitch Ratings has assigned an ‘A-’ rating to Georgia Power Company’s $500 million series 2024A 5.004% senior notes due Feb. 23, 2027 and $900 million series 2024B 5.250% senior notes due March 15, 2034. Georgia Power intends to use the net proceeds from these issuances to repay all or a portion of its CP borrowings and for general corporate purposes.
Georgia Power’s Issuer Default Rating (IDR) is ‘BBB+’/Outlook Positive. The ratings reflect stable and predictable cash flow generation of Georgia Power’s regulated electric utility operations, constructive regulation and robust growth across its service territory. The ratings also capture the diminished execution risks regarding Georgia Power’s new nuclear units given the successful commissioning and operations till date of Vogtle Unit 3 and expected commissioning of Unit 4 in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24).
Vogtle Risks Abating: With the commercial operation of Vogtle Unit 3 and as expected performance of the unit thus far, the execution risk associated with the construction of two new nuclear units is materially reduced for Georgia Power. The construction of Unit 4 continues to benefit from lessons learned on Unit 3. Based on the most recent forecasts, Georgia Power’s share of the capital costs for the two units currently stands at $10.7 billion. Unit 4 is on track to reach commercial operation in 2Q24 per latest management estimates.
Positive Resolution of Prudence Review: Consistent with the 2017 Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) order and Unit 4 completing fuel load, Georgia Power filed an application on Aug. 30, 2023 to seek recovery of all prudently incurred capex for Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Georgia Power reached a stipulated agreement with Georgia PSC staff and key intervenors that provides for recovery of $7.562 billion of capital costs. This is lower than the company’s ask of $8.826 billion but modestly higher than $7.3 billion, which was deemed reasonable by the PSC in its 2017 order. Georgia Power will also be allowed to recover $1.02 billion of additional costs, which include capitalized financing costs. New rates will be effective the month following commercial operations of Unit 4. The Georgia PSC approved the stipulation in December 2023.strong text
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Article 5
New Vogtle nuclear reactor now online in Georgia, completing expansion.
April 29, 2024
The second new nuclear unit at Plant Vogtle has entered commercial service, Georgia Power announced Monday, marking the end of the expansion of the nuclear power plant near Augusta, beset by years of delays and cost overruns.
Both new Vogtle units were dogged by construction quality issues and other problems, and ultimately reached completion roughly seven years later than initially forecast. Their total price tag also blew past the original cost estimate of $14 billion to around $35 billion. Most of Georgia Power’s portion of those costs have — and will continue to — come out of the pockets of Georgia Power customers.
In a statement, Georgia Power president and CEO Kim Greene praised the unit’s co-owners and regulators at the Georgia Public Service Commission, who greenlit the project and repeatedly voted to continue construction, despite skyrocketing costs. Georgia Power owns the largest share in the Vogtle expansion with 45.7%, followed by Oglethorpe Power (30%), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%).
Late last year, state regulators voted to approve a deal to pass $7.56 billion of Vogtle’s construction costs on to the company’s ratepayers. Georgia Power and shareholders of its parent, Southern Company, will absorb the remaining $2.63 billion of the project’s construction costs.
As a result, the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month will see a cumulative increase of $14.38 in their monthly bills. Part of that increase — about $5.42 — kicked in last year after Unit 3 entered service.
Now that Unit 4 is online, the rest — about $9 — will show up on customer bills starting in May.