U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said Friday that Georgia is at “the tip of the spear” in the global transition to clean energy, thanks to legislation passed under President Joe Biden’s administration, which she said is making the U.S. irresistible to investment.
Granholm’s comments came during a speech to business leaders and elected officials gathered at the Atlanta Regional Commission in downtown. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was granted exclusive access to the event.
Against the backdrop of a presidential race in which voters’ views on the economy could decide the election in battleground states including Georgia, Granholm touted the Biden administration’s record of creating clean energy manufacturing jobs and combating China’s dominance in key sectors.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Granholm said Georgia has had $29 billion committed by the private sector ― more than any other state — to build products such as electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and other technologies critical to the fight against climate change. The Georgia Department of Economic Development has cited similar figures, reporting roughly $27.3 billion in investments in electric mobility and clean technology supply chains in the state since 2018.
Gov. Brian Kemp and his economic development team, which has worked with local governments to offer companies lucrative tax incentives, have claimed credit for landing many of those projects, including Hyundai Motor Group’s $7.6 EV factory, which is nearing completion outside Savannah.
But Granholm linked Georgia’s victories on the recruiting trail to federal tax breaks in Biden’s landmark climate and health care law, the Inflation Reduction Act, plus the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. She ticked through notable projects — such as Qcells’ expansion of its solar manufacturing plant in Dalton and the construction of a factory in Cartersville — as evidence of the laws’ success.
“From cars and batteries to nuclear and solar, you have it all, and you are winning this race,” Granholm said.
Energy-hungry data centers
After her opening remarks, Granholm sat down with Allie Kelly, executive director of the clean transportation-focused nonprofit The Ray, for a conversation about other energy issues affecting the state.
One of those is the proliferation of data centers around metro Atlanta, which has emerged as one of the country’s hottest markets for the facilities.
Data centers power artificial intelligence, online finance and virtually every aspect of the modern digital economy. But the facilities — which consist generally of warehouses packed with computer servers — create few full-time jobs and use huge amounts of water and electricity for cooling.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The Atlanta City Council recently passed legislation prohibiting new data centers in parts of the city’s urban core, but earlier this year, a bill to revoke tax breaks for the facilities that cleared the Georgia General Assembly was vetoed by Kemp.
Since then, data centers have flocked to Georgia, and the state’s largest utility, Georgia Power, is building new oil- and gas-burning units and adding batteries to help serve them.
Georgia Power says the fleet additions will ultimately lower bills for residential customers, who have faced several rate increases since early 2023. But critics say that’s not guaranteed. Environmental advocates also warn adding more fossil fuels will scuttle any hope the planet has to limit global warming.
Granholm said the Department of Energy projects that data centers alone could drive up electricity demand by 15% nationwide in the next 10 years. She said she and other administration officials met Thursday with several tech executives at the White House to discuss plans for their energy needs. According to Axios, representatives from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Meta and other companies were in attendance.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
The secretary said bills can’t “go up for everybody to supply these data centers,” and she believes the companies understand they’ll need to “bring their own energy with them.”
Exactly what that might look like in Georgia is to be determined. But earlier this year, Georgia Power and the Clean Energy Buyers Association — which counts several tech giants among its members and helps them procure clean energy — reached a deal that could allow facilities with large electricity demands to develop their own supplies on the utility’s system.
Granholm also encouraged tech companies to explore co-locating their facilities with solar and battery systems or even scaled down nuclear units, known as small modular reactors. To date, no commercial SMRs have been built in the U.S.
“All of these solutions are important, and the companies have indicated a willingness to pay a green premium to make them happen,” she said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the date when the Clean Energy Buyers Association and Georgia Power reached an agreement on procuring renewable energy and to clarify CEBA’s relationship to its members.
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.
