Georgia Power is building more than 1,000 miles of new transmission lines across the state as part of a plan to add roughly 10 gigawatts of generating capacity over the next five years, and the utility confirms that about 80 percent of that new capacity is expected to serve data centers. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved the underlying resource plan in December 2025.
One of five current transmission projects, the Ashley Park to Wansley line, runs 35 miles through Fayette, Heard, Fulton, and Coweta counties and requires acquiring more than 330 parcels of land. Nearly 30 residential properties sit along the route, and Georgia Power says some owners are negotiating property sales while a small number of cases may proceed through eminent domain, a legal process the company says it uses in fewer than one percent of land transactions.
Georgia Power told Fortune it starts land negotiations at 125 percent of appraised value and that the process continues until landowners are comfortable with terms. The utility projects the broader transmission buildout will eventually save residential customers about $102 a year starting in 2029, arguing that large load customers such as data center operators will absorb a greater share of infrastructure costs.
Georgia has become one of the busiest data center markets in the country, with more than 200 operating facilities and roughly 170 concentrated in the Atlanta area. State lawmakers have grown more cautious about tax incentives for the sector even as utilities continue expanding generation and transmission capacity to keep pace with demand.
Source: Fortune - https://fortune.com/2026/07/26/georgia-power-utility-company-eminent-domain-grid-expansion-data-center/