First, I want to acknowledge Ms. Patty Durand’s desire for clean, affordable energy expressed in last week’s column; it is an objective we all share.
For more than a century, Southern Company has made remarkable achievements for the good of its customers, and that’s why I would like to give my perspective regarding the decision to build Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4, as I was chairman and CEO of Southern Company at the time.
I think a little background is helpful in understanding our decision.
For starters, Georgia has one of the best regulatory frameworks in the entire nation. It demands routine filings that require Georgia Power to project needs for generating capacity. This includes projecting the type of capacity and associated infrastructure needed well in advance, in fact as much as 20 years in advance. The process also encourages vigorous engagement and debate about such projections from the public. It is only after such that the Georgia Public Service Commission decides how the company should proceed.
When I became CEO of Southern Company in 2004, after serving as CEO of Georgia Power for four years, I became convinced of several things. First, we needed more generating capacity, nuclear generation should be part of the mix for the good of the country, and there were few companies who had the operational expertise, the balance sheet, the regulatory framework, and the proven track record of performance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that Southern Company had and continues to have. So, our team, with PSC approval, moved forward to build Vogtle Units 3 & 4. Our approach has always been not to fall in love with a particular type of generation technology but to deploy all that make economic sense for our customers. The state PSC process I mentioned earlier facilitates that decision-making very well.
Traditionally, regulation requires capacity to be built, operational and declared “used and useful” before it goes into the rate base for cost recovery. Because of the size and scale of this project, the PSC and the company agreed to add greater rigor to the process through routine progress reporting and the appointment of an independent third-party by the Commission to monitor all aspects of construction on behalf of the Commission and for the benefit of ratepayers.
We began construction in March of 2009 with the project being contracted to a consortium of three companies: Shaw Group, Westinghouse and Toshiba. There were identical units being constructed in China by Toshiba, and we sought to leverage and learn from their experience. At this time, no nuclear plant had been built in the U.S. in several decades, so we knew it would be a complex process, but no one involved could have foreseen what was to come.
In March 2011, we faced one of the first huge challenges for the units with the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that put huge scrutiny on the project, resulting in a significant increase in oversight and regulatory requirements for the project.
The following year, in December 2012, Shaw Group was acquired by CB&I, kicking off the first change in our main construction contractor. Westinghouse would later, in 2015, acquire CB&I and take full responsibility for the engineering, procurement and construction contract.
In 2017, the unthinkable happened when Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy on March 29, 2017, which set in motion actions to ensure both the technology continued to be available to us and the project could move forward. By the end of the year, Southern Nuclear had entered into a contract with Bechtel under which Southern Nuclear would self-build the units with Bechtel as the new prime contractor – a partnership that would later take the project to completion.
The next big challenge came when the world was shut down in March 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts of which would be felt through 2022.
These are not excuses. They are facts. During this entire process and through each challenge, we never stopped being transparent with our customers, our regulators and our shareholders about our progress. Through the life of the project, there were 31 Vogtle Construction Monitor reports filed and 29 hearings before the PSC — all open to the public. It is also important to be clear: Vogtle did not, by itself, increase customer bills by 25 percent, and the suggestion that customers were simply handed the entire project cost is false. In fact, Georgia’s rates have been nearly 15 percent below the national average since 1990. Reducing a project and regulatory process of this size and complexity to a single number is misleading.
In reality, the decision to stop could have been made at any time. But leaders in our state and the company understood the value of this long-term investment. Others who tried similar projects did stop and wrote off hundreds of millions of dollars with nothing to show for it. Projects as complex as this are difficult at best. I do not suggest that we did not make mistakes. The company has acknowledged such, and its shareholders have absorbed nearly $3 billion in costs. While I am no longer in a position to speak for the company, I am certain they would readily own and apologize for such mistakes.
However, to suggest that it should apologize for completing 2,400 MW of new clean energy capacity that can power an estimated 1 million homes and will operate for at least the next 60 to 80 years is very shortsighted. Ms. Durand, like many, benefits from 20/20 hindsight. The alternative would have been to construct six new natural gas-fired plants or 24,000 acres of new solar capacity with its intermittent capabilities. At a time when every power company in the country is trying to build new capacity, having finished Vogtle 3 & 4 will serve Georgia very well.
While there are many other assertions made by Ms. Durand that deserve rebuttal, my space is limited. As for an apology for Plant Vogtle Units 3 & 4 — none is required.
Mr. Ratcliffe’s response is wrong on nearly every point and it is disappointing to see that he takes no responsibility for his role in Southern Company’s failure to deliver Plant Vogtle on time and on budget. At the same time he celebrates 60 to 80 years of clean energy Vogtle will generate, he ignores 60 to 80 years of the 25% rate increase that Vogtle also delivered.
Ratcliffe’s claim that Georgia “has one of the best regulatory frameworks in the entire nation” was particularly difficult to read: Georgia is one of only five states with no independent consumer advocate at the PSC, and is the only state with no discovery rights for public interest lawyers. The level of redactions and trade secrets this commission gives Georgia Power far exceeds what any other state allows. The PSC has a veneer of regulatory oversight and consumer protections that does not actually exist.
His claim “we needed more generating capacity” was also untrue. Georgia Power’s growth forecasts are always far higher than reality and deserve scrutiny and accountability which the PSC does not address. While Georgia Power claimed their sales would grow over 4% annually to get approval to build Vogtle, their sales actually declined between 2010 and 2024.
His claim “nuclear generation should be part of the mix for the good of the country” is appalling. How has Vogtle advanced anything good for this country? It hasn’t. Three years after the first AP1000 reactor went online not a single utility has followed Georgia’s footsteps. But let’s say his view is correct: If nuclear energy is an important part of the United States’ technological capabilities, the United States should build and pay for it, not Georgia Power customers.
His claim that Southern Company “had the operational expertise, the balance sheet …and the proven track record of performance” to build nuclear is an incredible statement considering that in fact, they did not have the operational expertise to build Vogtle. There can be no denying that a $17 billion cost overrun and seven year construction miss is a failure of operational expertise and performance.
His claim that “the unthinkable happened” in 2017 when Westinghouse went bankrupt was also unbelievable when it was absolutely predictable: extreme cost overruns for building nuclear are common. In fact, Vogtle’s first two reactors had enormous cost overruns. Could that be why Georgia Power ensured there were no cost caps or consumer protections added to the Vogtle project?
Not only were cost overruns extreme from the beginning, they accelerated because contractors worked poorly together, and the quality of Southern Company’s project management and oversight was heavily criticized by the independent monitor. In fact, litigation among partners against Georgia Power seeking to exit this project, and from Georgia Power against partners, added to the costs.
COVID added minor costs and delays to the project as determined by the independent monitor and PSC staff and in no way should have been listed as an excuse for this project.
His claim that “During this entire process and through each challenge, we never stopped being transparent about our progress.” Really? Because we know that in late 2016 Georgia Power was delivering false progress reports to Vogtle PSC hearings that were revealed when Westinghouse went bankrupt just five months later. In 2016 Georgia Power filed a press statement that Vogtle would put “downward pressure on rates”, a claim they are making again about data center investments.
His claim that no apology is needed is absolutely false: Georgia Power customers deserve not only an apology: we deserve a full inquiry by an intendent commission as to why the most expensive public works project in U.S. history went $17 billion over budget.
Instead, we have a 25% rate increase beginning May 2024, the same month that Southern Company executives celebrated at a ribbon cutting ceremony by eating cake in the shape of nuclear reactors.
The tiny amount of energy that is Georgia Power’s share of Vogtle, just 1 gigawatt of new capacity, added $11 billion to the rate base, when that would have cost just $3 billion using solar + storage. But frankly, nothing was needed at all.
Georgia Power customers deserve to have their consumer advocate returned to the PSC. Public interest lawyers deserve to have discovery rights. There needs to be a formal investigation not what happened.
And we absolutely deserve an apology.
Patty Durand makes a compelling argument. She is clearly knowledgeable about the energy sector. I am not. I am a citizen who expects to have energy and who expects the state to have an effective regulator. I agree that the citizenry needs a consumer advocate on the PSC – the counsel that was zapped by the Legislature. And it would be helpful to have an independent investigation of the Vogtle debacle since it is always helpful to learn from mistakes. That is where an explanation would come from. We need that explanation not an apology. We need that explanation so we do not have a repeat with the data center issue.
I agree with you 100%. Southern company messed up. Poor management and decision making which caused massive delays and cost overruns that now the public is paying for. No problem is electric was free. Southern company is a business. They should be taking the cost overruns as a loss and file them as such with their gains tax. Not charge the public continuous raising rates to pay for their mistakes. The more they spend to upgrade the grid the more income they will receive from an area. Growth of a town will not happen if utilities wont support it. Upgrade so it does that expands their customer base. More customers more income.
And one more thing: Mr. Ratlcliff’s very first sentence is nonsense: clean affordable energy is not an objective we share. That is clearly observed by Georgia Power’s unprecedented and enormous expansion of gas for data centers and their use of accounting tricks to ensure solar and storage cannot financially compete. Southern Company has five gas affiliates that profit from gas, which is why they aggressively pursue gas over solar, when the rest of the country, and the world, are aggressively pursuing solar over gas: it’s far more affordable, its quicker to deploy, and it doesn’t emit harmful greenhouse gases as gas does. In both 2024 and 2025, and continuing in 2026, over 90% of grid capacity additions were solar, wind, and storage. But in Georgia? It’s not as profitable so they go for continuing dirty coal, and building new gas, all of which their customers – not them – pay for. Just appalling.
Georgia Power’s renewable energy (solar) rate program lets you buy solar for MORE than the price of the standard rate which is comprised of electricity produced by Plant Vogtle (nuclear), other coal- and gas-burning power plants (with a little bit of solar and hydro). Of course, electricity from nuclear, gas, and coal consumption is much more expensive than solar, but that’s the point. They punish people who like solar because it is less profitable for Georgia Power. The many constraints they put on commercial, community, and residential solar are another way to ensure solar is off the menu. How dare he suggest that Georgia Power desires clean affordable energy?! The only thing they desire is ProfitsMaxxing.
This is a good primer on the debate for the upcoming PSC elections
Robert Gunter: come on – really sir? There are only two options in your view: ratepayers and Uncle “Sugar” – whatever that means. Did you forget the ELEPHANT in the room – SOUTHERN COMPANY? They are making BILLIONS in profits from their mistakes. THEY SHOULD BE PAYING!! Not ratepayers. And not taxpayers, the correct term to use. The last four years of Mr. Ratcliff’s tenure as Southern Co. CEO he earned over $36 million, without pension benefits. Add in a rich pension he is enjoying to this day and it is $56 million CEO compensation he earned. Last year Georgia Power earned almost $3 BILLION in compensation. So no, ratepayers will ‘not always foot the bill unless we expect taxpayers to pick up the bill’. The company itself should pick up the bill for their costly mistakes and miscalculations and mismanagement. Not only did that not happen, not only did a state investigation into their failures not happen, we can’t even get a measly apology without being accused of 20/20 hindsight. I *thought* the reason CEOs earn tens of millions in annual salary was because of their expertise in strategic foresight and guidance into their area of business expertise. But no, apparently Mr. Ratcliffe and his successors Tom Fanning and Chris Womack can earn tens of millions of dollars in CEO compensation ANNUALLY while still royally screwing up the biggest project in Georgia Power’s history. And THAT’S why we need to turn over the PSC Commission – every commissioner who served during Vogtle’s time frame needs to lose their jobs. Three down (Fitz, Echols, and Pridemore) – two to go in 2028.
Rate payers will always foot the bill for whatever power source is built. It is foolish to think otherwise unless we expect uncle sugar to pick up the bill (but who pays that). Total costs relative to the national average is relevant.
Question: Which is the least expensive source of electricity?
A. Nuclear? (Nope, that is the most expensive.)
B. Coal? (Wrong again, that’s the second most expensive)
C. Gas? (Nope. We pay for the gas, we pay for the pipelines to get it to Georgia, and we pay fuel surcharges when gas costs more – as it soon will.)
D. Solar? Yes, that’s correct! The sunlight does not charge a penny for shining on Georgia, and has not raised it rates for approximately the last 5 billion years. Photovoltaic panels and battery electric storage systems (BESS) are more efficient and less expensive than ever before, and they are improving efficiency and lowering costs rapidly. So which one to you want to pay for?
(See other comments for the human health and environmental effects of burning coal and gas, not to mention those of nuclear fuel in a worst case scenario…)
I don’t think Radcliffe cares a bit about the cost overruns, but I am sure he cares about the absurd compensation package he received.
The Republicans on the GA PSC in harmony with Georgia Power now have monopoly captive customers paying a profit to Georgia Power on the mistakes and the delay costs…yes…they do. This is so disgustingly wrong my stomach hurts….
As a retired customer who has dealt with Georgia Power for almost 50 years one thing consistent are the rate increases and the rubber stamp bought and paid for at the PSC! Plus, the way they rigged up profits for the investors whether Georgia Power made money or not it’s mine blowing for the most part. The vast majority of the customers of Georgia Power doesn’t trust them as far as they can throw them, As a homeowner my bill average is $230 a month, a friend of mine his bill averages 400 a month. The time is way overdue for our officials to hold Georgia power accountable. Let Georgia Power and its investors eat17 billion in cost overruns. Instead, they charged most every one a nuclear construction fees in the state. The rate payers shouldn’t not be forced to pay for anything. This is the opinion of probably 90% of all their customers.
Accountability comes in the form of PSC elections turning out Republican incumbents who enabled this exploitation: November 3rd (or early vote) please vote for Peter Hubbard and Shelia Edwards. Learn more at my website https://georgiansforaffordableenergy.org/.
Get rid of all Republicans on the PSC—they’re all in the pockets of big energy. Turn it blue for lower rates. Datacenters should pay inflated rates for power and us citizens shouldn’t subsidize these DC’s by paying higher rates. I’m sick and tired of of my power bills going up every month because of the incompetence of David Ratcliffe and his millionaire cronies. Down with Ratcliffe and his Republican cronies. We the people are fed up with the Republicans who keep raising our rates. We are mad!!
For decades, Georgia Power has held full regulatory capture over the majority Republicans on the PSC, who eagerly rubberstamp everything Georgia Power “asks” for. In turn, Georgia Power’s affiliates stuff campaign cash into the accounts of these “kept” Republican commissioners, in a continuing circle of graft and corruption. But, this November, we can overthrow this evil status quo by voting for the two pro-consumer Democrats running for the PSC!
A different point of view on a well presented long term list of benefits Vogle Units 3&4 with have that compare the long term price stability impacts for Southern’s customers.
• Zero‑carbon firm baseload for 60–80 years
• Fuel‑free cost stability — no exposure to gas volatility
• Massive reliability value for the Southeast grid
• Anchor asset for Georgia’s long‑term decarbonization
• Regulatory certainty — PSC‑approved rate base, long‑lived asset
• National significance — only U.S. new‑build nuclear of this generation
“No Apology Needed? How Stupid Does Southern Company Think We Are?
Former Southern Company CEO David Ratcliffe’s assertion that “no apology is needed” for Plant Vogtle is a masterclass in corporate gaslighting. To claim that a project running $17 billion over budget and slating working families with a 25% rate increase requires no apology reveals exactly how naive Southern Company thinks “We The People” are.
Ratcliffe hides behind predictable excuses: Fukushima, contractor bankruptcies, and COVID to cover up monumental management failures. He boasts about Georgia’s “best regulatory framework,” conveniently ignoring that our Public Service Commission lacks an independent consumer advocate and functions as a rubber stamp for Georgia Power.
While Southern Company executives pocketed tens of millions in compensation, everyday Georgians were forced to absorb the bill for the most expensive public works failure in state history. To hand working families higher bills, celebrate with reactor-shaped cake, and then publish an op-ed telling us we aren’t owed an apology is pure arrogance.
We don’t just deserve an apology, we deserve a PSC that actually protects ratepayers instead of protecting monopoly profits.
You do, sir, need to more than apologize.
If only for filching millions in public school money for years in your disgusting Vogtle finance surcharges.
Surcharges for free money to Georgia Power that continued as company construction cockups and do overs added billions to costs and years in delays.
You need to more than apologize to me and all monopoly captive customers who are forced to pay to Georgia Power a profit….yes a profit….on company construction cockups and do over delays.
My oh my oh my you have nerve to try to puff and pretty up your fat rotten pig Vogtle Venture as Georgia Power and the PSC have me paying A fat monopoly company electric bill and for juicy fat compensation packages.