Georgia regulators have approved one of the largest power expansions in the state's history to meet surging electricity demand from data centers. The Georgia Public Service Commission voted unanimously to approve Georgia Power's request for nearly 10,000 megawatts of new energy capacity, an amount the utility compares to roughly five Hoover Dams worth of generation, driven primarily by projected data center growth.
The utility has already signed contracts with data centers totaling more than 9,000 megawatts, and it estimates that about 90 percent of the new demand stems from facilities expected to connect to the grid between 2028 and 2031. To supply that load, the plan leans heavily on new natural gas generation, including five new gas plants. At the site of a former coal plant, Georgia Power is adding a 500 megawatt battery storage system alongside a new combined cycle natural gas plant of roughly 1,500 megawatts at Plant Wansley.
The approved resources are expected to cost customers an estimated 50 to 60 billion dollars over their operating lives, a figure that has drawn scrutiny given the speculative nature of some data center forecasts. To address that concern, the utility agreed to shield existing customers from rate increases tied to the buildout until 2031 if the projected data center demand fails to materialize.
The decision underscores how quickly computing growth is reshaping utility planning, with power availability now a central factor in where large data centers choose to locate.
Source: GovTech - https://www.govtech.com/policy/georgia-regulators-approve-power-grid-expansion-for-data-centers