Georgia regulators approve huge electric generation increase for data
centers
[December 20, 2025] By
JEFF AMY
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's only private electric utility plans to increase
power capacity by 50% after state regulators on Friday agreed 5-0 that
the plan is needed to meet projected demand from data centers.
It would be one of the biggest build-outs in the U.S. to meet the
insatiable electricity demand from developers of artificial
intelligence. The construction cost would be $16.3 billion, but staff
members say customers will pay $50 billion to $60 billion over coming
decades, including interest costs and guaranteed profit for the monopoly
utility.
Georgia Power Co. and the Public Service Commission pledge large users
will more than pay for their costs, and that spreading fixed costs over
more customers, could help significantly cut residents' power bills
beginning in 2029.
“Large energy users are paying more so families and small businesses can
pay less, and that’s a great result for Georgians,” Georgia Power CEO
Kim Greene said in a statement after the vote.
But opponents say the five elected Republicans on the commission are
greenlighting a risky bet by the utility to chase data center customers
with existing ratepayers left holding the bag if demand doesn't
materialize.
“The need for 10,000 megawatts of new capacity resources on the system
in the next six years isn’t here," said Bob Sherrier, a lawyer
representing some opponents. “It just isn't, and it may never be.”
The approval came less than two months after voters rebuked GOP
leadership, ousting two incumbent Republicans on the commission in favor
of Democrats by overwhelming margins. Those two Democrats won in
campaigns that centered on six Georgia Power rate increases
commissioners have allowed in recent years, even though the company
agreed to a three-year rate freeze in July.
Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson — the Democrats who will take office
Jan. 1 — opposed Friday's vote. But current commissioners refused to
delay.
Electric bills have emerged as a potent political issue in Georgia and
nationwide, with grassroots opposition to data centers partly based on
fears that other customers will subsidize power demands of technology
behemoths.
Georgia Power is the largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. It says
it needs 10,000 megawatts of new capacity — enough to power 4 million
Georgia homes — with 80% of that flowing to data centers. The company
has 2.7 million customers today, including homes, businesses and
industries.
Whether the company’s projections of a huge increase in demand will pan
out has been the central argument. Georgia Power and commission staff
agreed Dec. 9 to allow the company to build or acquire all the desired
capacity, despite staff earlier saying the company's forecast included
too much speculative construction.
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Protestors are escorted out of a Georgia Public Service Commission
meeting on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
 In return, the company agreed that
after the current rate freeze ends in 2028, it would use revenue
from new customers to place “downward pressure” on rates through
2031. That would amount to at least $8.50 a month, or $102 a year,
for a typical residential customer. That customer currently pays
more than $175 a month, including taxes.
"So we’re taking advantage of the upsides from this additional
revenue, but allow it to shift the downside and the risk over to the
company. And I’m real proud of that," Commission Chairman Jason Shaw
said after the vote.
But “downward pressure” doesn't guarantee a rate decrease.
"It doesn’t mean your bills are going down," said Liz Coyle,
executive director of consumer group Georgia Watch. “It means that
maybe they’re not going up as fast.”
Existing customers would pay for part of the construction program
that doesn't serve data centers. More importantly, opponents fear
Georgia Power's pledge of rate relief can't be enforced, or won't
hold up over the 40-plus years needed to pay off new natural-gas
fired power plants.
In a Monday news conference, Hubbard likened it to a mortgage “to
build a massive addition to your home for a new roommate, big tech.”
"If in 10 years, the AI bubble bursts or the data centers move to a
cheaper state, then the roommate moves out, but the mortgage doesn’t
go away,” he said.
Staff members say the commission must watch demand closely and that
if data centers don't use as much power as projected, Georgia Power
must drop agreements to purchase wholesale power, close its least
efficient generating plants and seek additional customers.
Many opponents oppose any new generation fueled by natural gas,
warning carbon emissions will worsen climate change. Some opponents
were escorted out of the commission meeting by police after they
began chanting “Nay! Nay! Nay! The people say nay!”
“Increased natural gas output for the sake of these silicon
billionaire kings seems like a lose-lose," opponent Zak Norton told
commissioners Friday.
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