ATLANTA, April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power has confirmed an incident at the company's Plant Bowen facility in Cartersville. Mid-afternoon on April 4, Unit 2 was beginning a maintenance outage and experienced an explosion, the cause of which is still under investigation.

All employees, including full-time staff and contractors, have been accounted for and no serious injuries have been reported. Georgia Power is working with local first responders to ensure the safety of all employees at the facility, as well as evaluating and containing any damage to the facility. This incident presents no danger to the community. All of the plant's four units are currently offline, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Although the plant's four units are currently offline, the incident will not interrupt service to customers. Georgia Power has contingencies in place to ensure the highest levels of service and reliability.

As one of the largest generating facilities in Georgia Power's system, with a rated power output of more than 3,000 megawatts from its four coal-fired generating units, Plant Bowen is located nine miles west of Cartersville off of US Hwy 113 on more than 3,000 acres in Bartow County.

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.