Waynesboro, Georgia – Georgia Power announces that unit 4 at Plant Vogel has generated electricity and is connected to the power grid.
On Feb. 14 operators started the nuclear reaction inside the reactor, generating nuclear heat to produce steam. Operators will continue to raise reactor power for generation of electricity while performing tests at various power levels, ultimately raising power to 100 percent. Once all startup testing is successfully completed and the unit is available for reliable dispatch, Vogtle Unit 4 will enter commercial operation.
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Georgia governor Brian Kemp posted on X, “Rivaled assets like this are part of why we remain the No. 1 state for business and the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Looking forward to full commercial operation later this year,” Kemp said.
JEA will get power from Plant Vogel. The cost of the third and fourth reactors was originally supposed to be $14 billion, but are now on track to cost the owners $31 billion. That doesn’t include $3.7 billion that original contractor Westinghouse paid to the owners after going bankrupt, which brings total spending to almost $35 billion.
In Georgia, almost every electric customer will pay for Vogtle. Georgia Power, the largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., currently owns 45.7% of the reactors. Smaller shares are owned by Oglethorpe Power Corp., which provides electricity to member-owned cooperatives, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton. Oglethorpe and MEAG plan to sell power to cooperatives and municipal utilities across Georgia.