Georgia Power: The Data on Your Bill, Outages, & Service
Generated Title: Georgia Power's Data Center Gamble: Rate Hikes or Hot Air?
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) is facing a high-stakes decision: approve Georgia Power's massive buildout to support a data center boom, or risk sticking residential customers with the bill. The core question is whether the promised data center demand is real, or just speculative projections dressed up as commitments.
Parsing the Power Demands
Georgia Power wants to add 10,000 megawatts to its generation fleet in the next five years. That's nearly ten Vogtle reactors worth of power (each Vogtle reactor produces roughly 1,100 megawatts). Bob Sherrier of the Southern Environmental Law Center calls it "the largest single request...in the history of the state." The PSC staff, however, isn't buying the hype. They recommend approving only a third of the proposed buildout for now.
The PSC staff's skepticism hinges on the fact that only a fraction of the proposed buildout is backed by signed contracts. Robert Trokey, the PSC’s electric section director, put it bluntly: "The rest is speculative and exposes customers to the risk of stranded costs if the anticipated load does not materialize." Georgia Power claims to have commitments for 11,000 megawatts, but the PSC staff notes that most of these contracts were signed before new billing rules designed to protect non-data center customers came into effect. "Without executed contracts under the new large load framework, there is no guarantee those costs will not be passed on to existing customers," Trokey stated.
Georgia is indeed a hot market for data centers, but the industry is notoriously fickle. Data center operators can cancel contracts or relocate to other states on a dime. And the PSC staff points out that this has already happened in Georgia.
The Shrinking Pipeline
Here's where the data gets interesting. According to a November 2025 filing, Georgia Power's pipeline of large load economic development projects shrank by a net 6 GW from Q2 to Q3 2025, landing at 50.9 GW. New projects added only 6.8 GW, and existing projects increased their projected load by 1.6 GW, while a whopping 14.3 GW of projects exited the pipeline. Georgia Power’s large load pipeline shrinks by 6 GW.
Now, the company spins this as "the number of commitments...have grown from 26 to 28," representing 2.2 GW. But let's be clear: a 6 GW net decrease in the pipeline is not exactly a ringing endorsement of long-term stability. It's like saying your bathtub is filling up while the drain is wide open. Sure, some water is coming in, but you're still losing ground.
The PSC staff testimony is even more damning. Since the 2023 IRP Update, 33 data center projects with 11,332 MW of announced load have been removed from the pipeline. That's 55% of all project removals and 65% of announced load removed. Twenty-four percent of data center projects that entered the Load Resource Management (LRM) have been removed, averaging five data center projects exiting the pipeline each quarter. (Parenthetical clarification: IRP stands for Integrated Resource Plan.)
And this is the part of the report that I find genuinely puzzling. Georgia Power seems to be banking on a future that the data simply doesn't support. They claim demand is based on "large load customer commitments and additional organic growth," but the PSC staff argues that Georgia Power’s forecasts have overestimated electricity demand from data centers. If this trend continues, existing customers will be stuck paying for power plants that have no use.
The Holiday Cheer Distraction
While the PSC is wrestling with these weighty issues, Georgia Power is busy with other things. Namely, the "Light Up the Holidays" contest with the Atlanta Falcons. (A $5,000 donation to charity as the grand prize?) It's a classic PR move: distract the public with feel-good stories while the serious business happens behind closed doors.
It's not that holiday cheer is inherently bad. But it is a bit tone-deaf to be promoting festive decorations while potentially saddling customers with higher bills. The contrast is jarring.
Is This Growth Sustainable?
Georgia Power stands to profit "tremendously" from this expansion, according to the PSC staff. The power plant additions would nearly double the company’s "rate base," a key factor in determining its earnings. In other words, Georgia Power has a strong financial incentive to push this buildout through, regardless of whether the demand materializes.
The PSC staff recommends approving 3,100 megawatts, conditionally approving another 4,200 megawatts, and rejecting the remaining 2,400 megawatts. This seems like a reasonable compromise, but the upcoming vote on December 19 will be crucial. And with two outgoing commissioners casting votes, analysts warn Georgia Power bills will rise if PSC approves data center buildout, the outcome is far from certain.