SCANA utility executives lied about the true status of the now-canceled V.C. Summer nuclear project, according to testimony that marked the start of South Carolina Public Service Commission hearings on the nuclear expansion.

Georgia Power’s Sept. 26 gamble to accept demands from Oglethorpe Power Corp. to assume more contractual risk and continue the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion—now estimated at $27 billion—matches the utility’s earlier assessment that contractors can deliver the long-delayed project on the current schedule.

After pushing to cap its financial responsibility for escalating construction costs at the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion, project co-owner Oglethorpe Power Corp. was still considering Georgia Power’s demands to approve continued construction without new conditions late on Sept. 25.

Peak construction at the first new U.S. nuclear plant in 30 years will happen later this year, and the project will need 8,500 workers on site.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Dominion Energy’s proposed acquisition of South Carolina-based SCANA Corp., but ongoing issues related to SCANA’s role as a partial owner of the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear power plant expansion project continue to raise uncertainty surrounding the merger.

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Plant Vogtle’s new nuclear units may become operational considerably ahead of the schedule that Georgia Power announced last fall when Bechtel officially took over the beleaguered project.