Southern Co. ( NYSE: SO ) +1.3% in early Thursday trading after reporting a rise in Q3 adjusted earnings and revenues , and lowering the cost estimate for Georgia Power's share of the Unit 3 and Unit 4 nuclear reactors under construction at the Vogtle plant in Georgia.
Q3 net income rose to $1.5B, or $1.36/share, from $1.1B, or $1.04/share, in the year-earlier quarter, while revenues jumped by more than a third to $8.38B, well above analyst expectations, which the utility said was mostly linked to higher fuel costs.
In an investor presentation alongside Q3 results, Southern ( SO ) trimmed its cost estimate for the two Vogtle nuclear reactors to $10.38B from previous guidance of $10.45B while maintaining its previously projected in-service dates of Q1 2023 for Unit 3 and Q4 2023 for Unit 4.
Southern ( SO ) said it completed Unit 3's initial fuel load with the safe transfer of all 157 fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pool to the reactor core, marking the completion of another critical step toward start-up and commercial operation of the unit.
When Georgia approved the Vogtle expansion in 2009, the two 1,117 MW Westinghouse AP1000 reactors were expected to cost ~$14B and enter service in 2016 and 2017.
Southern's ( SO ) stock price return shows a 3% YTD loss and a 4% increase during the past year .
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Southern Co. cuts cost estimate for Georgia Vogtle nuclear reactors