(Georgia Recorder) — Georgia Power will expand its renewable energy generation and keep some of its coal plants open longer than previously planned under a compromise deal approved by state regulators Tuesday.
The Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved the deal that maps out Georgia Power’s energy plans for the coming years, despite objections from consumer advocates who claimed the agreement violates a previous commission order. Although several interest groups requested changes, the commissioners did not propose any amendments before voting.
“As our state continues to grow and thrive, the approval of this comprehensive plan helps to ensure we have the resources and programs we need to reliably and economically meet the future energy needs of our customers,” said Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene in a statement.
The plan predicts skyrocketing growth in energy demand, mostly due to data centers, and lays out how the utility will meet it, through a mix of building new power plants and upgrading old ones. The plan extends two coal plants beyond their previously proposed closure dates, a controversial move because of coal’s intensive greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. It also approves updates to existing nuclear reactors, hydroelectric plants and transmission lines.
Before seeking bids for new resources — a process due to start in October — Georgia Power will need to refine its forecast and provide regular updates on growing demand. The company’s projections on demand were a major point of contention throughout the proceedings, with critics arguing it overestimates how much energy new customers like data centers will actually need and how quickly that demand will come.
“With unprecedented grid growth ahead for Georgia, this Integrated Resource Plan puts us on the right path to meet everyone’s needs,” said commissioner Tim Echols in a statement. “I wish it had more solar, more storage, more energy efficiency — but it strikes a good compromise in the spirit of collaboration.”
The most strident objections to the agreement came from consumer advocates who felt that the energy efficiency provisions violated a previous commission order.
In 2023, those advocates signed on to a settlement agreement that raised power rates to pay for construction costs at Plant Vogtle, in exchange for an expansion of a senior discount program and an increase in energy efficiency savings. While the utility initially proposed an energy efficiency target that matched the Vogtle deal, the agreement approved Tuesday falls short of that amount.
“This is an incredible blow to Georgia Power’s credibility and the credibility of the IRP process,” said Codi Norred, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, one of the advocacy groups that signed the Vogtle agreement, in a statement. “I can’t see how anyone would come to the negotiation table with Georgia Power in good faith again after witnessing the bait and switch the company just pulled off with the commission’s blessing.”
Echols expressed the same concern in a hearing last week, but ultimately voted for the agreement without proposing any changes.
Georgia Power and the commission’s staff maintain they did not violate the Vogtle agreement, which said only that the utility would “propose and support” the higher efficiency goal, known as a DSM savings target, and allowed that commission staff could advocate for a different figure. In a filing last week, the utility argued the new deal “still results in one of the highest DSM savings targets to be approved in recent history, and certainly better than what may have occurred if the Vogtle Prudence Stipulation had not been approved by this Commission.”
“Georgia Power fulfilled its obligations under the Vogtle Prudence Stipulation and no reasonable interpretation of that document could determine otherwise,” that filing read.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WABE and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
