Projected electricity demand from proposed data centers in Georgia ranges between 29 and 58 gigawatts, according to Amy Sharma, executive director of the nonprofit Science for Georgia, who discussed the estimate with Georgia Public Broadcasting's Peter Biello.
Sharma described the scale by noting that a gigawatt is roughly the output of one nuclear reactor or half of Hoover Dam, and that the four reactors at Plant Vogtle together produce a little more than four gigawatts.
Georgia Power received permission from the Public Service Commission in 2025 to substantially expand the volume of electricity it generates and sells, with data center growth across the state cited as the driver. The question that follows is whether the state can deliver the amount of electricity it has promised.
Sharma said Science for Georgia used a different methodology than the utility to calculate future need. She said about 81 new data centers have been proposed in Georgia, and that only 25 of those have disclosed how much power they will require. Where power figures are not public, her group uses building square footage as another basis for estimating demand.
Georgia Power chief executive Chris Womack told shareholders that once the Effingham County OpenAI agreement is finalized, the utility will have committed one gigawatt more electrical capacity than regulators have approved it to provide.
Source: The Daily Signal - https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/17/georgia-data-centers-power/