Georgia's Vogtle Units 3 & 4 (2009–2024)
Georgia Power began building two new AP1000 reactors at Plant Vogtle, originally budgeted at roughly $14 billion. The project suffered years of delays, contractor bankruptcy (Westinghouse in 2017), and ballooning costs that ultimately reached approximately $35 billion. Unit 3 entered commercial operation in July 2023 and Unit 4 in April 2024 — the first new nuclear units built in the United States in over three decades.
Georgia ratepayers absorbed billions in cost overruns. Southern Company's stock and reputation took sustained hits during construction.
Vogtle proved that new nuclear can still be built in the U.S. but raised hard questions about cost discipline. The experience intensified interest in smaller, simpler reactor designs that avoid Vogtle-scale construction risk.
Texas's $350 million fund explicitly targets small modular and advanced reactors — designs meant to avoid the cost and schedule disasters that plagued Vogtle. Whether these designs actually deliver on that promise remains the central unanswered question.