
FILE: In this Feb. 15, 2012 file photo, U.S. Secretary of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, right, exits the stage with Southern Company President and CEO Thomas Fanning as cooling towers for units 1 and 2 are seen in the background at left as the new reactor vessel bottom head for unit 3 stands under construction at right, on a visit of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Republican Rep. Jeff Chapman of Brunswick has proposed trimming the profits of Georgia Power if the cost of building Plant Vogtle (VOH'-gohl) near Augusta exceeds a construction budget set at over $6 billion.
Georgia Power is a subsidiary of the Atlanta-based Southern Co.
Electric customers would still reimburse the utility for its actual construction expenses and borrowing under Chapman's plan. But the firm would earn a lesser profit on any investments that went over the state-approved budget.
Besides Georgia, U.S. nuclear plants are currently under construction in South Carolina and Tennessee.




