(Georgia Recorder) — A battle over the state’s energy future resumes Wednesday with utility regulators hosting a hearing on Georgia Power’s plans to significantly expand fossil fuel generation over the next several years.
The Public Service Commission has scheduled hearings starting Wednesday for Georgia Power’s application to fast track the construction of three methane gas-burning units at Coweta County’s Plant Yates in order to meet increasing demands in the next decade.
Wednesday’s hearing will feature testimony and cross-examination of Georgia Power officials, PSC staff analysts and experts representing clean energy groups. The hearing would resume on Thursday if the five-member commission finds it necessary. There will be another opportunity for the company’s lawyers, environmentalists, and consumer watchdogs to make their case to a PSC committee on Aug. 15, prior to the commission’s vote on the proposed Yates expansion scheduled for Aug. 20.
The Plant Yates expansion was among the major changes approved in 2023 to Georgia Power’s three-year strategic plan, which was approved by the five-member commission in a 4-1 vote April 16. The utility company’s revised outlook also calls for bringing more renewable energy online with the addition of a total of 1,000 megawatts of solar capacity with battery storage by early 2027 and the extension of purchasing agreements in Florida for natural gas, and with Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Georgia Power’s parent company Southern Co.
Yates expansion opponents argue that adding more polluting fossil fuels that will be in operation for nearly 50 years will do more long-term harm to public health and the environment than clean energy alternatives. Several environmental groups criticized the company for avoiding a competitive bidding process, which could result in ratepayers paying more for the projects to be built.
Plant Yates opened as a coal-fired electricity generating plant in 1950 and operated until five of the seven units were retired in 2015 and the other two were converted to natural gas.
Georgia Power officials have argued that the Yates gas generators project needs to be fast tracked in order to meet the growth of massive data centers that continue to proliferate, primarily around metro Atlanta. The new energy sources are being promoted as a way to keep attracting companies building state-of-the-art facilities that operate around the clock to support data storage and artificial intelligence technology.
The debate over Georgia Power’s utility rates has intensified over the last several years as customers faced hikes in electric base rates and paid for soaring fuel costs, coal ash cleanup and construction overages at Plant Vogtle. The average Georgia Power residential bill will jump a total of $44 a month over two years, including $16 to pay for spikes in methane gas and coal costs.
An expert witness for the Sierra Club and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is urging the five PSC commissioners to delay the Yates certification until a new fuel recovery policy ensures that Georgia Power customers don’t have to pay 100% of the expansion costs.
“In order to serve the public interest, the commission is obligated to create the proper incentives so that major risks to the cost of the electricity market are optimized by the parties who have the information and power to make those decisions,” wrote Albert Lin, a California based economic and financial consultant, in June 21 testimony.
The potential $3 billion costs to implement the three-year plan update, of which approximately half is alloted for Yates’ new units, has also raised concerns about how the burden would be split between residential and small business customers versus large commercial manufacturers.
Georgia Power officials also say the company will not seek to recover from its customers any construction cost overruns unless it’s caused by events beyond the company’s reasonable control, such as natural disasters. The terms of the revised resource plan stem from a stipulated agreement between Georgia Power, PSC staff, and various organizations such as consumer watchdog Georgia Watch, MARTA, the Georgia Association of Manufacturers, and the Southern Renewable Energy Association.
Throughout the IRP update process, the PSC members have acknowledged that the Yates expansion would play a crucial role in meeting the energy demand to support Georgia’s “extraordinary growth”, according to Jeffrey Grubb, director of resource and planning for Georgia Power, and Michael Bush, director of generation development for Southern Co.
“The expedited certification of Yates 8-10 (units) is a necessary part of the company’s commitment to continue serving our customers reliably and cannot be delayed,” their July 10 rebuttal testimony says.
