Coal, oil and gas will continue to supply much of Georgia Power’s electricity for years to come after state regulators approved a long-range energy plan Tuesday for the utility that was driven overwhelmingly by the needs of data centers.
The road map, known as an Integrated Resource Plan, was greenlit unanimously by the five members of the all-Republican Georgia Public Service Commission, after months of debate.
The plan keeps polluting coal plants running and sets the stage for a historic expansion of the utility’s generation fleet. It mirrors an agreement unveiled last week between Georgia Power and the PSC’s public interest advocacy staff.
Deals like this, called stipulated agreements, often emerge from the complex cases heard by the PSC. Other parties can endorse the agreement — in this case, the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies, Walmart, and some energy and manufacturing industry groups signed on in support.
The impetus behind Georgia Power’s request is the influx of data centers to metro Atlanta, now the country’s top growth market for the energy-intensive facilities. The largest, “hyperscale” data centers can require as much electricity as a small city.
The company leaned on forecasts showing peak demand increasing by 8,200 megawatts by winter 2031, nearly all of it from data centers. Such a surge would require the utility add the equivalent of about eight new Plant Vogtle nuclear reactors to its system in six years.
Georgia Power and PSC staff testified that an expansion of that scale has little precedent in company history.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Other experts acknowledged data centers are coming to Georgia. But critics, including the PSC’s own staff, questioned whether the surge in electricity demand will pan out as the company claims. They argued overbuilding risks saddling residential customers with unnecessary costs and potentially higher bills.
Georgia Power and some commissioners pushed back on those critiques, pointing to the risk of blackouts if the company does not have enough electricity to meet demand. They’ve also promised data centers will pay their fair share for expanded infrastructure.
Ultimately, the deal the commission approved endorses Georgia Power’s projections as “based on substantially accurate data and an adequate method of forecasting.” The utility agreed to collaborate with PSC staff to refine its methods and provide updated forecasts to the commission.
With the PSC’s approval, Georgia Power now has the go-ahead to:
- Buy or build 6,000 to 8,500 megawatts of new electric capacity to come online between 2029 and 2031. The utility is weighing bids to fill those needs, with gas expected to supply much of that.
- Keep burning coal at Plant Bowen outside Cartersville well into the 2030s. Units at Plant Scherer near Macon and Plant Gaston, a coal and gas plant southeast of Birmingham, will also stay in service beyond their previously scheduled 2028 closure dates.
- Procure up to 1,000 megawatts of new solar capacity, with the potential for 3,000 megawatts more.
- Boost the output of gas-fired units at Plant McIntosh north of Savannah.
- Modernize Plant Vogtle Units 1 and 2 in the Augusta area.
- Undertake a massive expansion of its transmission grid, with commission oversight.
- Launch a new pilot program for residential customers to pair rooftop solar systems with on-site battery storage.
A portion of the company’s plan to modernize its fleet of hydropower dams will move forward, but the commission will reevaluate the need for other upgrades in 2028.
Georgia Power President and CEO Kim Greene said the approved plan will “ensure we have the resources and programs we need to reliably and economically meet the future energy needs of our customers.”
PSC Chairman Jason Shaw said the approved plan balances reliability and affordability.
“As data center construction continues in Georgia, this IRP (Integrated Resource Plan) puts us in a safe and secure spot to meet that energy need,” Shaw said.
Throughout hearings, PSC commissioners heard impassioned pleas from doctors, students and other members of the public, who said Georgia Power’s reliance on coal and other fossil fuels would harm Georgians’ health and worsen climate change.
Coal is the most “carbon-intensive” fossil fuel according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and burning it for electricity produces more greenhouse gas emissions than oil or gas. Coal-fired power plants are also a major source of microscopic pollution particles, which studies have linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths globally each year.
Dr. Preeti Jaggi, an Atlanta-area pediatrician, told the PSC last month that fossil fuels no longer serve Georgians’ best interests.
“Burning of fossil fuels causes climate change and air pollution, and these things are killing us and making us sick,” Jaggi said.
Vogtle pact controversy
Tuesday’s vote was without drama.
But one area of contention in the lead-up centered on the agreement’s target for Georgia Power initiatives designed to reduce energy use, called “demand side management,” or DSM. The programs cut ratepayers’ bills and can negate the need for costly new power plants.
Georgia Power initially proposed increasing its DSM goal to reduce annual retail electricity sales by 0.75%, up from 0.50%. But PSC staff endorsed the current 0.50% goal, and the agreement unveiled last week kept the lower target.
The change incensed clean energy and consumer advocates, who said Georgia Power was violating an earlier settlement over its spending on the long-delayed and over budget Plant Vogtle expansion.
As part of that deal, Georgia Power agreed to “propose and support” a DSM target of at least 0.75% in this year’s long-range energy plan. The Vogtle agreement says PSC staff and other intervening parties “reserve the right to advocate for different savings targets.”
Groups like Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, who endorsed the Vogtle settlement largely because of the energy savings potential it offered customers, called the deal a “bait and switch” that betrayed their trust in the company and the commission.
Georgia Power’s attorneys called the claims “silly and frivolous.”
PSC Vice Chairman Tim Echols last week also voiced concerns that keeping the lower target could hurt future negotiations at the PSC.
“All I’m saying is this damages that,” said Echols.
On Tuesday, Echols joined the other commissioners to approve the lower energy savings goal.
A note of disclosure
This coverage is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at AJC.com/donate/climate.
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