Southern Company Could Delay Plant Vogtle Decision Until Late Summer
CEO Tom Fanning told Southern Co.’s shareholders attending the company’s annual meeting on May 24 that a decision on how to proceed with the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion could take several more months.
The Vogtle expansion—one of two new nuclear construction projects underway in the U.S. utilizing Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology—has been in limbo, albeit still in progress, since Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in late March. Yesterday, Reuters reported that Westinghouse had “reached a deal to borrow $ 800 million after allaying creditors’ concerns that the money would be flowing to non-bankrupt affiliates overseas.”
But that news doesn’t seem to have made Southern Co.’s decision to proceed with Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 any easier. Following the annual meeting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that despite company officials previously stating that they had hoped to have a decision by today, or at least in June, Fanning is now aiming for August or “late summer.”
Less than two weeks ago, Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power announced that it had reached a new service agreement, which would allow for the transition of project management from Westinghouse to Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power “once the current engineering, procurement and construction contract is rejected in Westinghouse’s bankruptcy proceedings.”…