ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) voted on Friday to approve a Georgia Power application to build 10 gigawatts of new energy resources. The request is driven largely (90 percent) by the utility’s estimated energy needs for new data centers coming onto the grid between 2028 and 2031.
Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the request, despite initial staff recommendations to approve only about 3 gigawatts, with additional resources conditional on data centers’ firm commitments to Georgia Power, given the speculative nature of its growth analysis.
This vote was held just days before two new commissioners take office. Peter Hubbard and Dr. Alicia Johnson recently unseated incumbents Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols by a substantial margin.
Following is a statement from Patrick King II, Georgia policy director for NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“State regulators have once again failed to protect utility customers, who have already endured six rate increases in just three years. Georgia Power customers are being asked to pay for massive investments driven by wildly overestimated data center demand. What makes this decision even more troubling is that it was pushed through by commissioners who have been voted out of office and will never have to answer to voters for the consequences. This vote risks locking Georgians into billions of dollars of unnecessary costs and higher bills for a generation to come, based on load projections that may never materialize.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).
Related Content
U.S. 2035 Climate Target Is Ambitious, Achievable & a Call to Action
