The $20 Billion in Bets Threatening to Sour Southern’s Ties
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By now, Southern Co. was supposed to be running a first-of-its-kind clean-coal power plant and preparing to start the first U.S. nuclear reactor to be licensed in more than three decades.
Instead, the utility owner’s simultaneously grappling with the mounting costs of the thrice-delayed coal plant known as Kemper and setbacks in bringing its more than $14 billion Vogtle nuclear project online. They threaten to sour Southern’s relationship with regulators. On Thursday, it came before the state of Mississippi once again to approve costs for the $6.2 billion Kemper complex.