ATLANTA -- Southern Company (NYSE: SO) subsidiary Georgia Power today announced in a filing with the Georgia Public Service Commission that Plant Vogtle units 3 and 4 are moving forward towards issuance of the combined construction and operating license (COL) around the end of 2011, with unit 3 becoming operational in 2016 and unit 4 in 2017.

The company filed the fifth semi-annual Vogtle construction monitoring report to request the commission verify and approve costs for the period Jan. 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011.

"We support this transparent review process, which is one of the commission's key tools to ensuring our customers receive a viable, economic source of energy," said Georgia Power President and CEO Paul Bowers. "We are being accountable to our customers. This project is on track, and the targets are achievable."

Among the highlights in the report:

• The commission has made it possible for the company to be in a position to deliver to customers nearly $1 billion in benefits from the DOE loan guarantees, production tax credits and the early recovery of financing costs in rate base.
• Completion of the two new units remains significantly less expensive than any of the available alternatives.
• The company continues to manage the project well.

In March 2009, the commission approved Georgia Power's request to certify the construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4. Under the agreement, the company must file semi-annual monitoring and monthly status reports with the commission. The semi-annual monitoring report includes any proposed revisions to the cost estimate, construction schedule, or project configuration, as well as a report on actual costs incurred during the period covered by the report and an updated comparison of the economics of the certified project.

Public hearings will be held at the commission later this year, with a vote to approve the costs expected in early 2012. Expenses included in the four previous construction monitoring reports have been verified and approved by the commission.

Southern Company subsidiary Southern Nuclear is overseeing construction and will operate the two new 1,100-megawatt AP1000 units for Georgia Power and co-owners Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities. Georgia Power owns 45.7 percent of the new units.

Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates below the national average. Georgia Power serves 2.4 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties.