Southern Company (SO)

[eFinanceMarkets]

$SO Southern rises after Q2 beat; says Vogtle nuclear project tab rises to $25B

Southern Co. (SO +2.3%) after posting better than expected adjusted Q2 earnings and revenues; on an unadjusted basis, SO recorded a $1.38B loss, almost entirely due to a $2.8B pre-tax charge the company took related to the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to build the Kemper clean coal power plant in Mississippi.

Additionally, SO discloses it will cost at least $25.2B to complete the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, raising new questions about whether the sole remaining nuclear facility under construction in the U.S. will get built.

The report of the escalating expenses, which have nearly doubled over the past nine years, comes two days after SCANA Corp. abandoned a similar project in South Carolina that also followed years of delays and rising costs.