Southern Company announced shifts in its executive leadership on Tuesday, naming Joseph “Buzz” Miller as the new president and chief executive officer of Southern Power, effective March 7.
Miller serves currently as the executive vice president of nuclear development for Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power and president for nuclear development for Southern Nuclear. He was elected to his new posts at Southern owing to the retirement of Oscar C. Harper IV, who will step down after 32 years with the Southern Co. system.
Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO W. Paul Bowers championed Miller's leadership at the Vogtle construction site in Waynesboro, Georgia, a two-unit Westinghouse AP1000 project jointly owned by Georgia Power (45.7 percent) Oglethorpe Power Corporation (30 percent), Muncipal Electric Authorit of Georgia (22.7 percent) and Dalton Utilities (1.6 percent).
He also stressed the need to stay focused on the Vogtle project. “We remain focused on completing the expansion to the highest standards of safety and quality, with the least possible impact to our customers' rates while ensuring that the units will operate safely and power more than a half million Georgia homes and businesses for 60-plus years,” he said in a statement.
Mark D. Rauckhorst has been named executive vice president of construction for the Vogtle 3 and 4 project. Since joining the company as vice president of construction in 2011, Rauckhorst has leveraged more than 30 years of experience working for engineering, construction management and utility organizations on large-scale capital construction projects to move the Vogtle project forward, the company said.
His base of operations will remain located at the construction site, where he will oversee construction compliance and coordinate with the Southern Nuclear operational readiness team to prepare for an effective transition from construction to operations.
The leadership changes will go into effect with Plant Vogtle expansion more than 60 percent complete based on contractual milestones. Major milestones completed in 2015 include the placement of the 1,140-ton CA01 module for Unit 3, the placement of the 950-ton lower ring for Unit 4 and more than 26,000 total cubic yards of concrete put in place.