We, along with Georgia Power, have entered into agreements providing for the purchase and subsequent joint operation of certain electric generating plants. Each co-owner is responsible for providing their own financing. The plant investments disclosed in the table below represent our undivided interest in each plant. A summary of our plant investments and related accumulated depreciation as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 is as follows:


	2021				2020
	(dollars in thousands)
Plant	Investment		Accumulated Depreciation		Investment		Accumulated Depreciation
In-service(1)
Owned property
Vogtle Units No. 1 & No. 2 (Nuclear – 30% ownership)	$	3,010,843	$	(1,881,324)	$	3,008,848	$	(1,845,863)
Vogtle Units No. 3 & No. 4 (Nuclear – 30% ownership)	58,199		(7,290)		57,631		(5,785)
Hatch Units No. 1 & No. 2 (Nuclear – 30% ownership)	973,682		(503,871)		952,159		(479,628)
Wansley Units No. 1 & No. 2(2) (Fossil – 30% ownership)	820,110		(649,301)		764,315		(370,177)
Scherer Unit No. 1 (Fossil – 60% ownership)	1,415,115		(638,443)		1,379,513		(569,357)
Doyle (Combustion Turbine - 100% ownership)	144,711		(120,527)		139,853		(117,005)
Rocky Mountain Units No. 1, No. 2 & No. 3 (Hydro – 75% ownership)	615,485		(284,749)		618,965		(281,763)
Hartwell (Combustion Turbine - 100% ownership)	227,834		(121,174)		227,154		(113,879)
Hawk Road (Combustion Turbine - 100% ownership)	266,149		(69,194)		263,673		(63,907)
Talbot (Combustion Turbine - 100% ownership)	300,335		(158,270)		296,398		(152,859)
Chattahoochee (Combined cycle - 100% ownership)	319,550		(166,859)		319,234		(160,194)
Effingham (Combined cycle - 100% ownership)	337,614		(112,057)		—		—
Smith (Combined cycle - 100% ownership)	672,184		(190,760)		672,358		(174,176)
Wansley (Combustion Turbine – 30% ownership)(2)	3,942		(3,889)		3,942		(3,847)
Transmission plant	102,966		(62,457)		100,344		(60,688)


Other	104,372		(62,885)		98,406		(60,904)
Property under capital lease:
Scherer Unit No. 2 (Fossil – 60% leasehold)	795,301		(532,674)		794,051		(508,262)
Total in-service	$	10,168,392	$	(5,565,724)	$	9,696,844	$	(4,968,294)
Construction work in progress
Vogtle Units No. 3 & No. 4	$	6,680,014			$	5,696,342
Environmental and other generation improvements	99,378				87,237
Total construction work in progress	$	6,779,392			$	5,783,579

(2)Georgia Power requested in its 2022 Integrated Resource Plan filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) that Plant Wansley Units No. 1 and No. 2 be decertified and retired by August 31, 2022. We have received approval from our board and RUS to accelerate depreciation in anticipation of the early retirement of the plant and to create a regulatory asset for the deferral of a portion of the accelerated depreciation expense, which will be recovered over an extended period.

We, Georgia Power, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia, acting by and through its Board of Water, Light and Sinking Fund Commissioners, doing business as Dalton Utilities (collectively, the Co-owners) are parties to an Ownership Participation Agreement that, along with other agreements, governs our participation in two additional nuclear units under construction at Plant Vogtle, Units No. 3 and No. 4. The Co-owners appointed Georgia Power to act as agent under this agreement. Our ownership interest and proportionate share of the cost to construct these units is currently 30%, representing approximately 660 megawatts. Pursuant to this agreement, Georgia Power has designated Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. as its agent for licensing, engineering, procurement, contract management, construction and pre-operation services.

In 2008, Georgia Power, acting for itself and as agent for the Co-owners, entered into an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement (the EPC Agreement) with Westinghouse Electric Company LLC and Stone & Webster, Inc., which was subsequently acquired by Westinghouse and changed its name to WECTEC Global Project Services Inc. (collectively, Westinghouse). Pursuant to the EPC Agreement, Westinghouse agreed to design, engineer, procure, construct and test two 1,100 megawatt nuclear units using the Westinghouse AP1000 technology and related facilities at Plant Vogtle.

Until March 2017, construction on Units No. 3 and No. 4 continued under the substantially fixed price EPC Agreement. In March 2017, Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Effective in July 2017, Georgia Power, acting for itself and as agent for the other Co-owners, and Westinghouse entered into a services agreement (the Services Agreement), pursuant to which Westinghouse is providing facility design and engineering services, procurement and technical support and staff augmentation on a time and materials cost basis. The Services Agreement provides that it will continue until the start-up and testing of Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 is complete and electricity is generated and sold from both units. The Services Agreement is terminable by the Co-owners upon 30 days' written notice.

In October 2017, Georgia Power, acting for itself and as agent for the other Co-owners, entered into a construction completion agreement with Bechtel Power Corporation, pursuant to which Bechtel serves as the primary contractor for the remaining construction activities for Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 (the Bechtel Agreement). The Bechtel Agreement is a cost reimbursable plus fee arrangement, whereby Bechtel is reimbursed for actual costs plus a base fee and an at-risk fee, which is subject to adjustment based on Bechtel's performance against cost and schedule targets. Each Co-owner is severally, and not jointly, liable for its proportionate share, based on its ownership interest, of all amounts owed to Bechtel under the Bechtel Agreement. The Co-owners may terminate the Bechtel Agreement at any time for their convenience, provided that the Co-owners will be required to pay amounts related to work performed prior to the termination (including the applicable portion of the base fee), certain termination-related costs and, at certain stages of the work, the applicable portion of the at-risk fee.

Our current budget for our 30% ownership interest in Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4, which includes capital costs, allowance for funds used during construction, our allocation of the project-level contingency and a separate Oglethorpe-level contingency is $8.5 billion and is based on commercial operation dates of March 2023 and December 2023 for Units No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. At December 31, 2021, our total investment for our 30% interest in the additional Vogtle units was approximately $7.0 billion. We and some of our members have implemented various rate management programs to lessen the impact on rates when Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 reach commercial operation.

We and our members are currently evaluating exercising the tender option discussed below which would cap our capital costs described above in exchange for a proportionate reduction of our 30% interest in the two new units. Based on the current project budget and schedule and our interpretation of the Global Amendments (described below), if we decide to exercise the tender option, our budget would be $8.1 billion and we would transfer and release from the lien of the first mortgage indenture approximately 42 megawatts, out of 660 megawatts, to Georgia Power. Our resulting ownership share would decline from 30% to approximately 28%. However, if the total project budget exceeds the current budget, our ownership share and megawatts could be further reduced. In addition to requiring approval by our board, any decision regarding the tender option will require certain member approvals.

We have a budget contingency for our interest that is separate and in addition to the project-level contingency. The Oglethorpe-level contingency, which we have carried at various levels since the beginning of the project, provides additional margin to cover potential cost, schedule, and financing risks associated with our share of the project which may not be covered by project-level contingencies. As construction progresses, the Oglethorpe-level contingency may continue to fluctuate as it represents the difference between known project-level costs and contingencies and our total budget. At the end of the project, if there is remaining Oglethorpe-level contingency, we will adjust our project budget to remove this contingency and bill our members based on the actual project costs. The table below shows our project budgets and actual costs through December 31, 2021 for our share of the project.


	(in millions)
	Project Budget - No Tender		Project Budget - Tender		Actual Costs at December 31, 2021
Construction Costs (1)	$	6,459	$	6,068	$	5,483
Financing Costs	1,922		1,914		1,502
Total Costs	$	8,381	$	7,982	$	6,985

Project-Level Contingency	$	98	$	98	$	—
Oglethorpe-Level Contingency	21		20		—

Total Contingency	$	119	$	118	$	—
Totals	$	8,500	$	8,100	$	6,985

(1) Construction costs are net of $1.1 billion we received from Toshiba Corporation under a Guarantee Settlement Agreement.

If we do not exercise the tender option, any schedule extension beyond March 2023 and December 2023 for Units No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, is expected to impact our cost by approximately $75 million per month for both units and approximately $30 million per month for Unit No. 4 only, including financing costs. If we exercise the tender option, we expect each additional month of delay to increase our financing costs by approximately $30 million per month for both units and approximately $12 million per month for Unit No. 4.

contact with such persons; requiring self-quarantine; and adopting additional precautionary measures. Since March 2020, the number of active cases of COVID-19 at the site has fluctuated consistent with the surrounding area and impacted productivity levels and pace of activity completion. COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges facing the project, including, but not limited to, higher than expected absenteeism; overall construction and subcontractor labor productivity; system turnover and testing activities; and electrical equipment and commodity installation. The incremental cost associated with COVID-19 mitigation actions and impacts on construction productivity is currently estimated by Georgia Power to be between $350 million and $438 million (of which our 30% interest is $105 million to $131 million) and is included in the project budget. The continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could further disrupt or delay construction, testing, supervisory, and support activities at Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4.

During 2021, Southern Nuclear performed additional construction remediation work necessary to ensure quality and design standards are met as system turnovers are completed to support Unit No. 3 hot functional testing, which was completed in July 2021, and fuel load. As a result of Unit No. 3 challenges including, but not limited to, construction productivity, construction remediation work, the pace of system turnovers, spent fuel pool repairs, and the timeframe and duration for hot functional testing and other testing, at the end of the second and third quarters of 2021, Southern Nuclear further extended certain milestone dates. Through the fourth quarter 2021, the project continued to face these and other challenges related to the completion of documentation, including inspection records, necessary to submit the remaining inspection, tests, analyses and acceptance criteria and begin fuel load. As a result, at the end of the fourth quarter 2021, Southern Nuclear further extended certain milestone dates. The in-service date for Unit No. 3 will primarily depend on construction productivity and production levels, the volume of construction remediation work, the pace of system and area turnovers, and the progression of startup and other testing. Georgia Power has disclosed that it projects an in-service date for Unit No. 3 by the end of the first quarter of 2023. Our current budgets reflect our expectation of an in-service date for Unit No. 3 in March 2023.

As a result of productivity challenges and temporarily diverting some Unit No. 4 craft labor and support resources to Unit No. 3 construction efforts, at the end of each of the second and third quarters of 2021 Southern Nuclear also further extended milestone dates for Unit No. 4. The temporary diversion of Unit No. 4 resources to support Unit No. 3 has continued in the first quarter of 2022; therefore, at the end of the fourth quarter 2021, Southern Nuclear further extended milestone dates for Unit. No. 4. The in-service date for Unit No. 4 primarily depends on overall construction productivity and production levels as well as appropriate levels of craft laborers, particularly electricians and pipefitters, being added and maintained. Georgia Power has disclosed that it projects an in-service date for Unit No. 4 by the end of the fourth quarter 2023. Our current budgets anticipate an in-service date for Unit No. 4 in December 2023.

During 2021, Georgia Power assigned $2.8 billion of established construction contingency and additional costs (of which our 30% share was $825 million) to the base capital costs forecast primarily associated with schedule extensions, construction productivity, the pace of system turnovers, and support resources for Units No. 3 and No. 4. At December 31, 2021, Georgia Power added $216 million (of which our 30% interest is $65 million) to replenish construction contingency. Georgia Power has stated its expectation to allocate the remainder of this project-level contingency by completion of the project.

As Unit No. 3 completes system turnover from construction and moves to testing and transition to operations, ongoing and potential future challenges include completion of construction remediation work, completion of work packages, including inspection records, and other documentation necessary to submit the remaining inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria and begin fuel load, and final component and pre-operational tests. As Unit No. 4 progresses through construction and transitions into testing, ongoing and potential future challenges include the pace and quality of electrical installation, availability of craft and supervisory resources, including the temporary diversion of such resources to support Unit No. 3 construction efforts, and the pace of work package closures and system turnovers. As construction, including subcontract work, continues on both Units No. 3 and No. 4, ongoing or future challenges include management of contractors and vendors; subcontractor performance; supervision of craft labor and related productivity, particularly in the installation of electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation and controls commodities, ability to attract and retain craft labor, and/or related cost escalation; and procurement and related installation. New challenges may arise, particularly as Units No. 3 and No. 4 move into initial testing and start-up, which may result in required engineering changes or remediation related to plant systems, structures or components (some of which are based on new technology that only within the last few years began initial operation in the global nuclear industry at this scale). The ongoing and potential future challenges described above may further impact the projected schedule and estimated cost.

There have been technical and procedural challenges to the construction and licensing of Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 at the federal and state level and additional challenges may arise. Processes are in place that are designed to ensure compliance with the requirements specified in the Westinghouse Design Control Document and the combined construction and operating licenses, including inspections by Southern Nuclear and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that occur throughout construction. In connection with the additional construction remediation work described above, Southern Nuclear reviewed the project’s construction quality programs and, where needed, is implementing improvement plans consistent with these

processes. On November 17, 2021, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the final significance report on its special inspection to review the root cause of this additional construction remediation work and the corresponding corrective action plans with two findings of low to moderate safety significance. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also made a finding of very low safety significance related to a non-cited violation of its regulations. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission stated that the apparent nonconformances associated with these findings do not represent an immediate safety concern because Unit No. 3 construction is still underway and issues implicating inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria must be resolved prior to loading nuclear fuel into the Unit No. 3 reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct a follow-up inspection on these findings at a future date. Findings from this or other inspections could require additional remediation and/or further Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight and may impact the projected in-service dates. In addition, certain license amendment requests have been filed and approved or are pending before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Various design and other licensing-based compliance matters, including the timely submittal by Southern Nuclear of the inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria documentation for each unit and the related reviews and approvals by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission necessary to support authorization to load fuel, have arisen and may arise, which may result in additional license amendments or require other resolution. If any license amendment requests or other licensing-based compliance issues, including inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria, are not resolved in a timely manner, there may be further delays in the project schedule that could result in increased costs to the Co-owners.

In November 2017, the Co-owners entered into an amendment to their joint ownership agreements for Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 to provide for, among other conditions, additional Co-owner approval requirements. These joint ownership agreements, including the Co-owner approval requirements, were subsequently amended, effective August 31, 2018. As described below, certain provisions of the Joint Ownership Agreements were modified further on September 26, 2018 by the Term Sheet that was memorialized on February 18, 2019 when the Co-owners entered into certain amendments (the Global Amendments) to the Joint Ownership Agreements (as amended, the Joint Ownership Agreements).

As a result of an increase in the total project capital cost forecast and Georgia Power’s decision not to seek recovery of its allocation of the increase in the base capital costs and the increased construction budget in connection with Georgia Power’s nineteenth Vogtle construction monitoring (VCM) report in 2018, the holders of at least 90% of the ownership interests in Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 were required to vote to continue construction. In September 2018, the Co-owners unanimously voted to continue construction of Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4.

In connection with the September 2018 vote to continue construction, Georgia Power entered into a binding term sheet with the other Co-owners and MEAG’s wholly-owned subsidiaries MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG Power SPVM, LLC, and MEAG Power SPVP, LLC that mitigated certain financial exposure for the other Co-owners and offered to purchase production tax credits from each of the other Co-Owners, at that Co-owner’s option (the Term Sheet). On February 18, 2019, the Co-owners entered into the Global Amendments to memorialize the provisions of the Term Sheet. Pursuant to the Global Amendments and consistent with the Term Sheet, the Joint Ownership Agreements provide that:

•each Co-owner is obligated to pay its proportionate share of construction costs for Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 based on its ownership interest up to (i) the estimated cost at completion ("EAC") for Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 which formed the basis of Georgia Power's forecast of $8.4 billion in Georgia Power's nineteenth VCM report filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission plus (ii) $800 million of additional construction costs.

•Georgia Power will be responsible for 55.7% of construction costs, subject to exceptions such as costs that are a result of a force majeure event, that exceed the EAC in the nineteenth VCM report by $800 million to $1.6 billion (resulting in up to $80 million of potential additional costs to Georgia Power which would save Oglethorpe up to $44 million), with the remaining Co-owners responsible for 44.3% of such costs pro rata in accordance with their respective ownership interests (equal to 24.5% for our 30% ownership interest); and

•Georgia Power will be responsible for 65.7% of construction costs, subject to exceptions such as costs that are a result of a force majeure event, that exceed the EAC in the nineteenth VCM report by $1.6 billion to $2.1 billion (resulting in up to a further $100 million of potential additional costs to Georgia Power which would save Oglethorpe up to an additional $55 million), with the remaining Co-owners responsible for 34.3% of such costs pro rata in accordance with their respective ownership interests (equal to 19.0%% for our 30% ownership interest).

If the EAC is revised and exceeds the EAC in the nineteenth VCM report by more than $2.1 billion, each of the Co-owners, other than Georgia Power, will have a one-time option to tender a portion of its ownership interest to Georgia Power in exchange for Georgia Power’s agreement to pay 100% of such Co-owner’s share of construction costs actually incurred in excess of the EAC in the nineteenth VCM report plus $2.1 billion. If any Co-owner elects to exercise this tender option, Georgia Power would have the option to cancel the project in lieu of accepting the offer to purchase a portion of the Co-owner’s ownership interest. If Georgia Power does not elect to cancel the project, then Georgia Power must accept the offer, and the ownership interest to be conveyed from the tendering Co-owner to Georgia Power will be calculated based on the percentage of the cumulative amount of construction costs paid by such tendering Co-owner as of the commercial operation date of Vogtle Unit No. 4. For purposes of this calculation, payments made by Georgia Power on behalf of the tendering Co-owner in accordance with the second and third bullets above will be treated as payments made by that Co-owner. This option to tender a portion of our interest to Georgia Power upon such a budget increase would allow us to freeze our construction budget associated with the Vogtle project in exchange for a proportionate reduction of our 30% ownership interest. In November 2021, Georgia Power and the other Co-owners clarified the process to exercise the tender option to require that a Co-owner desiring to exercise the tender option must do so between 120 and 180 days after the tender option in triggered.

The nineteenth VCM report total project cost is $17.1 billion (which excludes non-shareable costs) as reflected in numerous Georgia Public Service Commission filings. At December 31, 2021, budget increases since the nineteenth VCM have reached $3.4 billion for all Co-owners. As a result of these increases, we believe that the tender option was triggered at the Co-owner construction budget vote on February 14, 2022 and that Georgia Power’s increased responsibility for certain construction costs as described above commenced in March 2022. Georgia Power and the other Co-owners do not agree on the dollar amount that triggers each Co-owner’s option to tender a portion of its ownership interest to Georgia Power under the tender option or the extent to which certain costs, including costs that are the result of a force majeure event, impact both the calculation of (a) the point at which the tender option is triggered and (b) the costs for which Georgia Power is responsible once the actual construction costs incurred exceed the tender option trigger amount. Georgia Power and the other Co-owners also do not agree on the dollar amount that triggers Georgia Power’s increased responsibility for certain construction costs as described above, and the extent to which certain costs, including costs that are the result of a force majeure event (such as COVID-19), impact the calculation of the point at which Georgia Power’s increased responsibility for certain construction costs as described above is triggered. Accordingly, in March 2022, we notified Georgia Power of a billing dispute with regards to both the starting dollar amount and the application of costs resulting from a force majeure event and how such amounts impact the thresholds and timing of the cost-sharing and tender option provisions. This notice commenced the dispute resolution procedures set forth in the Ownership Participation Agreement for the additional Vogtle units.

Our ownership interest in Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 continues to be 30%; however, this could decrease if we exercise our option to tender a portion of our ownership interest and require Georgia Power to pay 100% of the remaining share of the costs necessary to complete the units. Our decremental ownership interest would be calculated and conveyed to Georgia Power after both Vogtle units are placed in service. Based on the current project budget and on our interpretation of the Global Amendments, if we decide to exercise the tender option, we would transfer approximately 42 megawatts, out of 660 megawatts, to Georgia Power. Our resulting ownership share would decline from 30% to approximately 28%.

Pursuant to the Joint Ownership Agreements, as amended by the Global Amendments, the holders of at least 90% of the ownership interests in Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 must vote to continue construction, or can vote to suspend construction, if certain adverse events occur, including: (i) the bankruptcy of Toshiba Corporation; (ii) termination or rejection in bankruptcy of certain agreements, including the Services Agreement, the Bechtel Agreement or the agency agreement with Southern Nuclear; (iii) Georgia Power publicly announces its intention not to submit for rate recovery any portion of its investment in Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 (or associated financing costs) or the Georgia Public Service Commission determines that any of Georgia Power's costs relating to the construction of Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 will not be recovered in retail rates, excluding any additional amounts paid by Georgia Power on behalf of the other Co-owners pursuant to the Global Amendment provisions described above and the first 6% of costs during any six-month VCM reporting period that are disallowed by the Georgia Public Service Commission for recovery, or for which Georgia Power elects not to seek cost recovery, through retail rates or (iv) an incremental extension of one year or more from the seventeenth VCM report estimated in-service dates of November 2021 and November 2022 for Units No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, (each, a Project Adverse Event). The most recent schedule extensions, which reflected a cumulative delay of over a year for each unit from the schedules approved in the seventeenth VCM report, triggered the requirement for the holders of at least 90% of the ownership interests in Vogtle Units No. 3 and No. 4 to vote to continue construction, and the Co-owners unanimously voted to continue construction.

The Global Amendments provide that Georgia Power may cancel the project at any time at its sole discretion. In the event that Georgia Power determines to cancel the project or fewer than 90% of the Co-owners vote to continue construction upon the occurrence of a subsequent project adverse event, we and the other Co-owners would assess our options for the Vogtle project. If the investment were to be written off, we would seek regulatory accounting treatment to amortize the investment over a long-term period, which requires the approval of our board of directors, and we would submit the regulatory accounting treatment details to the Rural Utilities Service for its approval. Further, if Georgia Power or the Co-owners decided to cancel the project, the Department of Energy would have the discretion to require that we repay all amounts outstanding under our loan guarantee agreement with the Department of Energy over a five-year period as discussed in Note 7 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.