ATLANTA — Staff members for the regulatory Public Service Commission say a proposed Georgia Power plan could increase energy bills for years.
The testimony comes as the company is seeking approval to spend billions of dollars to increase energy production primarily for data centers.
Georgia Power argues that the plan is necessary to prevent the state from falling behind in energy capacity, but members of the Public Service Commission staff believe the company is overestimating demand and that the plan will financially burden everyday customers.
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Liz Coyle, Executive Director of Georgia Watch, highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the plan, telling Channel 2’s Michael Doudna, “And if the data centers don’t come, the company still gets to get the money from their ratepayers, and that’s us.”
Staff testimony indicates the plan would add around $20 to the average bill.
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The plan aims to increase energy production by nearly 10,000 megawatts, equivalent to about nine Plant Vogtle nuclear reactors, to meet the needs of data centers and other large load customers.
The energy utility has maintained large load customers will pay for their share of the increase, from energy production to its use. They also say having large load customers would create downward pressure on prices.
In testimony, the power company said without the buildout, it would be unable to plan for future large load customers, introducing regulatory lag and making it difficult to meet customer timelines.
Currently, The Public Service Commission staff recommends approving only a portion of Georgia Power’s buildout, to balance the risk.
The PSC commissioners are set to make a decision on the plan on Dec. 19.
In a statement shared by Georgia Power on Monday, the company pushed back on the $20 figure from staff testimony, saying “The bottom line is that we believe the $20 figure included in PIA Staff testimony, while great for headlines, is inaccurate and misleading. It ignores incremental revenues and energy savings that more than offset costs, assumes all customers share costs equally, and does not reflect actual rate-setting practices.”
Editor’s note: An earlier headline for this story misstated what PSC staff were testifying about, it has been updated.
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