Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4, the first new US nuclear reactors completed in three years, marked their second operational anniversary in April 2026 as the Georgia Public Service Commission continued reviewing rate proceedings tied to the project. The two new units, completed at a final cost of approximately $36.8 billion, increased Georgia Power's total generating capacity by just over 7 percent and currently contribute approximately 2 gigawatts of baseload electricity to the regional grid.
Georgia Power and PSC regulatory staff reached an agreement to hold base power rates steady through the end of 2028, though total customer bills may still increase in 2026 through separate fuel and other adjustment mechanisms. Residential and small commercial rates climbed by more than 20 percent over the course of the construction period, according to customer billing data reviewed in PSC proceedings. The commission has not conducted a full prudency review of construction cost overruns.
Georgia Power has operated nuclear generation at the site in Waynesboro, Georgia, for 50 years, according to the company's own records, with the original Units 1 and 2 having operated since the 1970s. The four-unit site now provides a combination of established operating reactors and the two newly completed AP1000 units, which use a passive safety design that differs from earlier generations of pressurized water reactors.
Tennessee Valley Authority received a $400 million federal grant in December 2025 for its plan to install small modular reactors at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, adding another Southeast nuclear development project to the regional pipeline.
Source: Utility Dive -- https://www.utilitydive.com/news/after-2-years-ratepayer-pain-political-fallout-georgia-nuclear-vogtle/817792/