NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Utility regulators in Georgia on Tuesday voted to certify a plan by Southern Co’s Georgia Power to build two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power station in Georgia at a cost of about $6.4 billion, Southern said in a federal report.
The state Public Service Commission agreed to allow Georgia Power to include construction work in progress in rate base and to recover financing costs during construction of the new reactors beginning in 2011.
The Georgia Legislature in February passed a bill to allow the power company to include nuclear construction work in progress in rate base and recover financing costs during the construction period. The cost recovery provisions will become effective Jan. 1, 2011 if the bill is signed by the governor.
In addition, the PSC also approved of Georgia Power’s request to convert the 155 MW coal-fired unit at the 248 MW Mitchell coal/oil fired station in Georgia to wood biomass fuel at a cost of about $103 million.
The state PSC also approved of the company’s plan to install additional environmental controls at the 1,607 MW Branch and 1,295 MW Yates coal-fired power plants in Georgia.
In April 2008, Georgia Power, Toshiba Corp 6502.T/Shaw Group Inc's SGR.N Westinghouse Electric Co and Shaw's Stone & Webster subsidiary agreed to build two Westinghouse 1,100 MW AP1000 reactors at Vogtle.
Southern’s Southern Nuclear Operating Co operates the station for its owners: Southern’s Georgia Power (45.7 percent), Oglethorpe Power Corp (30 percent), Municipal Electrical Authority of Georgia (22.7 percent) and the City of Dalton (1.6 percent).
Georgia Power filed its energy plan with the Georgia PSC in August 2008, which included the request to build the two reactors.
Georgia Power has said the units could enter service in 2016 and 2017 if approved by the PSC and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The company wanted the PSC to allow for the recovery of the cost to build the reactors during construction. Without cost recovery, Georgia Power has said its part of the cost would be about $6.4 billion. With cost recovery, the company has said its costs would be closer to $4.4 billion.
Electricity traders estimated the total cost of the new reactors would be about $8.8 billion, or $4,000 per kilowatt.
The 2,301 MW Vogtle station is in Waynesboro in Burke County about 105 miles southwest of Columbia, South Carolina. There are two units at the station: the 1,152 MW Unit 1, which entered service in 1987, and the 1,149 MW Unit 2 (1989).
One MW powers about 500 homes in Georgia.
Southern, of Atlanta, owns and operates more than 42,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to nearly 4.4 million customers in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)
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