In Episode 2 of our Future-Proofing Energy Insights series, HData co-founder and CEO Hudson Hollister sat down with Stan Wise, former chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission.
Stan is a pivotal figure in the energy sector, known for overseeing one of the most ambitious projects in recent U.S. energy history: the development of Georgia Power Company’s large-scale nuclear facility, the first of its kind to open in decades.
In this episode, Stan shared stories, challenges, and key insights from the project that reshaped Georgia’s energy landscape.
Below are some highlights from the conversation.
When asked about the early days of the project, Stan didn’t mince words—it was a tough road from the start.
“We were navigating a process that hadn’t been initiated in decades,” he explained.
While the technology to build the nuclear facility was there, the regulatory environment had evolved, and getting the project off the ground wasn’t easy.
Among the challenges Stan mentioned, oversight and regulation stood out. Georgia Power and its partners often felt stuck in a “love-hate relationship” with federal regulators, Stan described. At times wishing, “Could they just leave us alone?”
Retrospect brings clarity, though. And in the webinar, Stan emphasized that federal oversight, while frustrating, played a crucial role in bringing the partners together and ensuring the project’s success. The collaboration between state and federal regulators was instrumental in pushing forward. “This wouldn’t have been possible without them,” he emphasized.
Getting the project off the ground wasn’t the end of the struggle, unfortunately. In fact, the middle of the journey was particularly rough.
Georgia and South Carolina were both building nuclear plants at the same time, using the same constructors. Both projects went massively over budget. South Carolina ultimately pulled the plug after $15 billion in costs
Georgia Power and its partners faced a revolving door of difficult decisions as they contemplated repeatedly whether to move forward with their own massively over-budget construction.
Regulators held hearings every six months to decide whether to continue with the project, and each vote brought sleepless nights for Stan and his colleagues. The stakes were high, and abandoning the project halfway would have meant billions of dollars wasted with nothing to show for it. In the end, they pushed forward—spending $35 billion on final construction—knowing that the plant’s long-term benefits would outweigh the short-term financial challenges.
Among all the difficulty, Stan did call out one win—a key decision that kept the project afloat: construction financing.
This form of financial backing allowed Georgia Power to recover some of their outlays even before the plant went online, preventing Georgia residents from paying for energy they hadn’t yet received. It also provided stability for the company and ensured faster financial recuperation once the plant became operational.
With two new reactors (Units 3 and 4) now online, the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant is the largest generator of clean energy in the United States.
Stan was clear about what this means for the future of energy: nuclear power is here to stay.
He acknowledged that while there is interest in alternatives like hydrogen and small modular reactors, nuclear remains crucial for meeting the base load generation needs of the U.S. It provides clean, safe, and reliable energy—something Georgia, and the country at large, will continue to rely on as demand grows.
Hudson couldn’t leave the conversation without touching on one of today’s hottest topics: artificial intelligence (AI).
Stan emphasized the growing demand for transparency, particularly in highly regulated industries like nuclear power. AI, he noted, offers a powerful tool for providing this transparency, making it easier for stakeholders to access crucial information while reducing the workload for companies managing large-scale operations like Vogtle.
Stan’s reflections offer a powerful glimpse into the political, financial, and technological challenges behind Georgia’s historic nuclear project. His experience underscores the critical role nuclear energy will continue to play in the U.S. energy landscape.
To dive deeper into this conversation, you can catch the full webinar replay on demand anytime. This episode is packed with insights that go beyond what we covered here, and it’s definitely worth a watch if you want to learn more about the future of nuclear energy and the evolving role of AI in the industry.