Dive Brief:

• The Department of Energy is expected to grant $6.5 billion in long-awaited loan guarantees for Southern Co.'s two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia.
• Southern's Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power and Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) will jointly own the two 1,100-MW nuclear units, which are expected to cost more than $14 billion.
• The expected loan guarantees are for Georgia Power and Oglethorpe. A $1.8 billion loan guarantee to MEAG is still being worked on.

Dive Insight:

The loan guarantees took longer than expected to complete because of new requirements that were added after solar panel maker Solyndra went bankrupt in 2011. The loan guarantee program was developed to help foster a nuclear renaissance, but low natural gas prices, delays in setting federal rules for carbon emissions and the Fukushima disaster ended the rebirth before it could fully get going.