How much will Plant Vogtle’s new reactors really cost us?

Southern Company’s chief executive has said the giant utility’s project to build two more nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle would be history-making. He may be right, but not in the way he meant.

Years behind schedule, billions over budget, and with a key contractor’s bankruptcy clouding its future, the troubled Vogtle project near Augusta is fast becoming Exhibit A for why no U.S. utility before Atlanta-based Southern had tried building a new reactor in 30-plus years.

Most Georgians who get electric bills could eventually pay for overruns on the project that are likely to grow. Customers of Southern subsidiary Georgia Power already pay a Vogtle-related surcharge that adds about $100 a year to the average residential bill, with the ultimate effect on ratepayers yet to be determined.