Thomas A. Fanning
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer at Southern
Thank you, Scott. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today. As you can see from the materials that we released this morning, we reported strong adjusted earnings per share for 2021, exceeding both our original 2021 guidance and the estimate that we provided on our third quarter call. This performance is due in no small part to our outstanding service territories and the unparalleled commitment of our employees to deliver clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers.
Our outstanding customer service, our commitment to the communities we serve and our proactive engagement with our stakeholders are reflected in the numerous honors we've highlighted in our slide deck, including recent recognition as Number 2 in the nation on Forbes 2022 list of America's Best Large Employers. Many of the initiatives that support this distinction are reflected in our inaugural transformation report, which we released earlier this week. This report details our sustained commitment and actions to further advance equity both within our company and our communities. These commitments allow Southern Company to help lead change within our communities and provide an enduring reflection of our values.
We are proud of the progress we have made and continue to recognize the opportunity to do more. As an example of the work we're doing to drive our customer satisfaction results a meaningful portion of our capital plans in recent years has been allocated to the continued modernization of our electric grids. Our grid automation strategies and investments are delivering real value to customers. And in 2021 our customers experienced 15% fewer minutes of interruption. Similar initiatives will continue to be a major component of our capital plans going forward.
Across all of our stakeholder groups, including employees, customers, communities and investors, we're focused on sustainability and a long-term view of value. That objective remains sound. The long-term financial plan that we outlined for you last year, remains intact. And we are reaffirming our 5% to 7% long-term growth rate expectation consistent with adjusted earnings per share in a range of $4 to $4.30 in 2024.
Let's now turn to an update regarding some of the recent developments related to our progress on Plant Vogtle Units 3 & 4. As you can see in the materials provided earlier today we updated our expected completion timeline for both units, extending the in-service dates for each unit by 3 to 6 months. As we've discussed on previous calls, the paper process is a critical aspect of turning plant components and systems over from construction, to testing and operation. We have discovered incomplete and missing inspection records, concerning much of the materials and equipment that have been installed at Unit 3. These inspection records are an important part of the documentation that is necessary to file ITAAC.
Our progress on Unit 3 ITAAC has slowed as we address a backlog of tens of thousands of inspection records, needing completion to support system turnovers. Through hard work over the last several weeks, we have reduced this backlog by more than 30%. Documentation within these inspection records is a critical aspect of getting it right. And the time and resources to complete the remaining inspection records and remediate construction issues identified in the process, including the impact of borrowing Unit 4 resources are key drivers for the change in schedule. We have 123 ITAAC remaining for Unit 3. The revised ITAAC completion schedule we've included in our slide deck is consistent with a 3-month change in the Unit 3 schedule.
Over the past year, a number of challenges, including shortcomings in construction and documentation quality have continued to emerge, adding to project timelines and costs. In recognition of the possibility for new challenges to emerge, we further risk adjusted our current forecast by establishing a range of 3 to 6 additional months for each unit and we've reserved for the maximum amount. We continue to make meaningful progress on both units notably for Unit 3 all 157 fuel assemblies have been loaded into the spent fuel pool in preparation for fuel load. For Unit 4, direct construction is now approximately 92% complete, open vessel testing has started and we recently completed the structural integrity and integrated leak rate tests without issue.
The 4-month mentioned challenges on Unit 3 are serving as lessons learned for Unit 4 and had benefited our performance on Unit 4 to date, relative to Unit 3. First-time quality on both construction and documentation, our key areas of focus. Our priority is bringing Vogtle Units 3 & 4 safely on line. And again, to get it right to provide Georgia with a reliable carbon free energy resource for the next 60 to 80 years. With this most recent change in project cost and schedule, provisions in the Vogtle 3 and 4 co-owner agreement came to the forefront, requiring the owners to affirmatively vote to proceed with the project. Vogtle 3 & 4 is incredibly important to the State of Georgia and its robust growing economy.
Furthermore, the addition of 2000MW of baseload carbon free energy is vital to increasing the availability of net zero energy resources across the state. Considering these facts and our proximity to commercial operation, Georgia Power has already voted to proceed. The other owners are required to vote by March 8th, which allows time for them to work through their own governance processes.
Consistent with the schedule extension of up to 6 months additional for each unit, Georgia Power share of the total project capital cost forecast increased by $480 million, largely as a function of time, additional resources to complete the remaining work with the necessary focus on quality construction and documentation and the replenishment of contingency. We continue working constructively with our co-owners to resolve different interpretations of the cost-sharing agreement with an expected potential range of outcomes of $100 million to $900 million. We have included $440 million of the $900 million in our total project cost estimate.
In aggregate, Georgia Power's resulting total capital cost forecast is $920 million and as a result, Georgia Power recorded an after-tax charge of $686 million during the fourth quarter. We value our partners on Vogtle 3 & 4 and the relationship we've had with them across multiple assets for decades. We look forward to our continued partnership on each new unit as they transition to commercial operation, providing millions of Georgians with the clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity for decades to come.
Before turning the call over to Dan for an update on our 2021 financial performance and our long-term outlook, I'd like to briefly touch on Georgia Power's triennial Integrated Resource Plan or IRP, which was filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission late last month. The proposed plan sets forth a proactive, innovative and transformational roadmap for how Georgia Power expects to support customers and it's growing service territory for decades to come.
Consistent with Southern Company's path to net zero carbon emissions, the plan described the tangible path to transition Georgia Power's generating fleet to cleaner, more economical resources. This plan includes retirement of all of the coal units, Georgia Power Controlled by 2028 except for plant Bowen Units 3 & 4, which are scheduled to be retired no later than 2035. The plan also includes a request for the addition of 6,000 MW of renewable generation by 2035, more than doubling Georgia Power's current renewable resources. Additionally 1,000 MW of storage is requested by 2030 to improve the capacity value of these intermittent resources.
In recognition of the changing energy landscape Georgia Power proposed innovative programs to promote reliability and resilience, including a distributed energy resource program. The comprehensive long-term plan also addresses continued investment in our transmission system and energy efficiency programs for customers. The IRP is subject to the review and approval of the Georgia Public Service Commission. Hearings will take place during the first half of 2021, with a final decision due this summer.
Dan, I'll turn the call over now to you, please take it away.
