The owners of the Vogtle nuclear plant on Sept. 26 agreed to continue with the project expansion after resolving issues over budget overruns. The deal follows majority owner Southern Company’s announcement in August to raise project costs by $2.3 billion, prompting a vote on the future of the project under provisions of the joint ownership agreement. Oglethorpe Power, the only holdout, sought cost-control options such as a cap on the budget to move forward with the project. The agreement establishes cost overrun thresholds that, if exceeded, will require Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power to bear a higher share and also allows other owners to sell a portion of their stakes in exchange for Georgia Power paying 100 percent of their remaining share of costs. Last month, the U.S. Energy Department cautioned that the project cancellation will prompt repayment of billions in loans. The department has disbursed $5.6 billion of an $8.3 billion loan guarantee. Georgia Power, which has a 45.7 percent stake, took over as the main contractor, following bankruptcy of reactor designer Westinghouse Electric, to continue the project despite cost overruns and delays. Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and Dalton Utilities own 30 percent, 22.7 percent, and 1.6 percent, respectively, in the plant.