Georgia Power reaches deal to add more fossil fuels, batteries
Georgia Power and state regulatory staff announced a tentative deal Wednesday that would allow the company to expand reliance on fossil fuels and add more battery storage to meet a sharp rise in electricity demand, mostly to serve energy-hungry data centers.
The company says the plan would apply “downward pressure” on rates for other customers, but consumer advocates say there’s no guaranteebills will drop — and they worry about the climate impacts of adding more oil, gas and coal to the Georgia Power system.
Aaron Abramovitz, Georgia Power’s chief financial officer, testified Wednesday before the Public Service Commission (PSC) that the plan would allow the company to maintain reliability during a period of “extraordinary economic development.”
“The capacity resources we are requesting… will ensure that we can continue to serve our existing and growing customer base with the reliability our customers value and expect,” Abramovitz said.
Bryan Jacob of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said he was surprised that the proposal appeared to give the utility almost everything it asked for in exchange for very few concessions.
“The stipulation takes the overall proposal from bad, which it already was, to worse,” said Jacob. “It’s a win for dirty energy.”
Georgia Power is the state’s largest energy utility and a regulated monopoly. That means it is guaranteed a profit by law, but its rates and resource planning must be regularly approved by elected representatives on the Public Service Commission.
The company issued a surprise off-year request to amend those plans in October, warning that it could face an electricity shortfall as soon as 2025. Some of the new load Georgia Power expects is from electric vehicle factories and other industrial customers heading to Georgia. Company executives, however, have testified that more than 80% of its forecast demand growth comes from data centers, which have also flocked to the state.
The company had asked the PSC for permission to add almost 3,400 megawatts (MW) of electricity assets to its system. That would include building three oiland-gas-fired units at Plant Yates in Coweta County, developing 1,000 MW of battery storage and continuing to buy electricity from a gas plant in Florida and its corporate cousin, Mississippi Power. The Mississippi Power agreement will keep a coal-fired power plant open that had been slated to close.
Georgia Power said the need is so urgent it wanted to sidestep the competitive bidding process normally required to determine the most cost-effective solution for customers. In earlier hearings, PSC staff had pushed back on that part of the company’s ask, arguing that demand was growing, but not as fast as Georgia Power claimed.
Clean energy advocates were caught off-guard by the proposed deal, which was released Wednesday morning, minutes before intervenors were allowedto crossexamine Georgia Power executives in the hearing. Commission Chair Jason Shaw calleda halfhour recess to allow interveners to read the document before questioning began.
The deal still needs to be approved by the PSC commissioners in a vote scheduled for April 16, but the framework provides a preview of what the final plan is likely to resemble. If approved, it would give the company most of what it requested.
Georgia Power would be allowed to build the new oiland gas-burning units at Plant Yates, without evaluating other options to secure the 1,400 MW they’ll provide. Even before receiving the commission’s sign-off, the company had begun developing the Yates units. Earlier testimony revealed cancelling the project would have cost $250 million.