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Georgia Power now has sign-off from state regulators to expand a power plant and buy more electricity from other utilities to serve an influx of businesses like data centers and factories.
The Georgia Public Service Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve an agreement between the state’s largest electric utility and the commission’s public interest advocacy staff. The plan also calls for additional battery storage.
About half of the outside interest groups engaged in the hearings, including industry representatives and consumer advocates, signed onto the deal. Others, including clean energy advocates, a group of local governments around the state and the U.S. Department of Defense, declined to sign.
Georgia Power has said the new business customers will pay for the additional construction and bring in so much extra revenue that it will offset future rate hikes. That promise is key because people’s bills have gone up four times in the past year and a half—and two more rate hikes are on the way.
