All four co-owners of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant announced today that they want to own a piece of the expansion too.

Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities will keep the same ownership proportions for the third and fourth reactors at the Burke County nuclear power plant.

Georgia Power owns 45.7 percent of Vogtle. Oglethorpe Power will own 30 percent of the new reactors, MEAG Power 22.7 percent and Dalton Utilities 1.6 percent.

The partners signed up Westinghouse Electric Company LLC and The Shaw Group Inc.’s Power Group to develop and construct the new reactors.

“Plant Vogtle’s co-owners represent communities throughout Georgia and we believe these collective decisions reflect the strong support our co-owners share in the proposed units,” said Mike Garrett, Georgia Power’s president.

The utilities are awaiting state and federal approval for the 1,100-megawatt reactors.

A final decision is expected from the Georgia Public Service Commission in March 2009. A license is still needed from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The timeline has the first of the new reactors running by 2016.

The project costs an estimated $14 billion.