The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
VOGTLE TIMELINE
1970
Georgia Power’s Board of Directors votes to build a fourunit nuclear power facility.
1989
Plant Vogtle’s two reactors are fully online at a cost of $9.2 billion, far more than originally projected.
2009
Georgia Public Service Commission approves Georgia Power’s request to begin construction on two new Vogtle reactors. State lawmakers and Gov. Sonny Perdue allow Georgia Power to pass on financing costs to customers before the project is slated to be completed in 2017. Outside groups and PSC staff warn about risk of higher costs and delays.
2011
Nuclear fee for financing added to Georgia Power bills.
2012
Contractors warn of project delays. Contractors sue Vogtle’s owners for more than $900 million. Georgia Power sues back.
2013
Georgia Power announces delays and increased costs, but says no further delays are expected.
2015
The company and construction contractors sue each other over delays that add more than $3 billion to the project and three years to the completion date.
2016
Georgia Power agrees to controls on the project’s costs and to short-term profit penalties if the project isn’t completed by the end of 2020.
2017
Project manager Westinghouse files for bankruptcy protection, eliminating some cost protections for project owners and their customers. Plug is pulled on a similar nuclear project in South Carolina. Georgia Power’s parent company discloses more Vogtle delays and costs.
2018
Georgia Power announces Vogtle’s cost will increase by more than $2 billion, some of which the company said it wouldn’t try to pass on to customers. Georgia Power’s Vogtle co-owners agree to stick with the project. PSC staff express doubt about the company’s latest schedule and warn it could lead to bad decisions.
2019
The Trump administration OKs $3.7 billion in loan guarantees for Vogtle, on top of $8.3 billion in loan guarantees made during the Obama administration. State monitors and staff warn about likely higher costs and more delays.
2020
Nearly 2,000 workers are cut from the Vogtle project as the pandemic grows. In late October, both Georgia Power’s retiring CEO and his replacement express confidence in meeting the latest deadlines.
February 2021
Company reasserts its ability to meet scheduled deadlines but discloses additional costs.
March 2021
Company discloses more quality problems on project and efforts to solve them.
April 2021
Company says first reactor, slated to be in operation in November, won’t be finished until late December.
May 2021
Company says first reactor now won’t be in operation until sometime in the first three months of 2022.
June 2021
Independent monitor for state predicts first reactor won’t be in operation until the summer of 2022, at the earliest. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces elevated review into quality problems and how they were addressed.
July 2021
Company announces more cost increase for its share of the project and extends timetable for each reactor by another three to four months.
August 2021
NRC rules it should increase oversight of the project as a result of quality and control problems.
October 2021
Company announces an additional three-month delay to its schedule, citing “construction challenges” and need for comprehensive testing to ensure standards are met.
November 2021
Company announces further cost increases.
December 2021
Independent monitors and PSC staff say total construction costs could rise an additional $1 billion and predict the first new reactor won’t go online until November 2022 or even February 2023 and that the second reactor will be finished a year later.