ATLANTA — The Georgia Public Service Commission's staff and Georgia Power have filed a proposed settlement for dealing with potential construction cost overruns at the Plant Vogtle nuclear plant construction project in Waynesboro.

The PSC certified the need for two additional reactors at Plant Vogtle in 2009, but did not resolve issues relating to cost overruns.

Under the agreement reached on Monday, the commission will be able to disallow costs as imprudent even after they have been approved in a review process.

The staff withdrew its support for a risk-sharing plan for cost overruns, saying the commission's ability to exclude imprudently incurred costs from the company's rate base if the project costs more than $6.1 billion provides protection for ratepayers.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the settlement on Aug. 2.