The Georgia Public Service Commission voted unanimously to approve Georgia Power request to acquire nearly 10 gigawatts of new energy capacity, a plan driven almost entirely by projected data center demand. About 90 percent of the estimated need stems from data centers expected to connect to the grid between 2028 and 2031.
The approved plan leans heavily on new fossil fuel infrastructure, including five new natural gas plants to meet the surging load. The resources will cost customers an estimated 50 to 60 billion dollars over their operating life. Under the agreement, Georgia Power committed to protect existing customers from rate increases tied to the buildout until 2031 if the forecast data center growth fails to materialize. Critics warned that if the utility demand projections prove inaccurate, existing ratepayers could still bear much of the cost.
The Georgia decision mirrors a national surge. US data center power demand is projected to climb from 31 gigawatts in 2025 to 41 gigawatts in 2026 and 66 gigawatts the following year, according to Goldman Sachs. The share of total peak summer power demand attributed to data centers is expected to rise from 4.1 percent in 2025 to 5.3 percent in 2026 and 8.5 percent the year after.
The scale of the commitments has made utility regulators central players in the data center boom, forcing states to weigh grid reliability, ratepayer protection, and generation mix as load growth accelerates faster than at any point in decades.
Source: Government Technology - https://www.govtech.com/policy/georgia-regulators-approve-power-grid-expansion-for-data-centers