Georgia Power announced a long-term energy plan Friday that is already stirring controversy, requesting that state regulators approve major investments in fossil fuels, transmission lines, and other energy resources to meet the projected rapid growth of data centers.
Consumer advocates warn that existing ratepayers will shoulder much of the cost to accommodate the warehouses filled with computers and telecommunications equipment. And environmentalists complain the energy required to power the new technology is pushing Georgia Power to reverse course on its push to make progress on its clean energy goals.
This summer, the Georgia Public Service Commission is set to vote on the investor-owned utility’s 2025 long-term plan that outlines its proposed investment over two decades to provide electricity to its 2.7 million residential customers and growing industrial base.
The state’s largest supplier of electricity says it plans to provide a varied mix of energy and the necessary infrastructure to build up its electrical grid to meet the state’s short- and long-term economic needs.
According to Georgia Power’s projections, electrical load growth will be about 8,200 megawatts by 2030, representing an increase of more than 2,200 megawatts over the last Integrated Resource Plan update.
Several environmental organizations are criticizing Georgia Power’s plans to increase its reliance on fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil. Additionally, over projections of industrial growth in the past have drawn concerns about more financial risks being placed on homeowners and other ratepayers.
The long-range plan also seeks to extend the life of coal-burning plants in Bartow and Monroe counties, walking back previous plans to retire decades-old sources of air pollution at Plant Bowen and Plant Scherer.
Georgia Power aims to shut down nearly all of its coal-fired power plants by 2028, except for Plant Bowen, near Cartersville which is set to be mothballed by 2035. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Georgia Power’s 2025 plan also proposes at least 1,100 megawatts of new renewable resources, which will contribute to the company’s goal to expand its renewable energy by 11,000 megawatts by 2035.
“At Georgia Power, our vision extends far beyond today — we plan for tomorrow, the next ten years and decades to come,” said Kim Greene, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power. “As Georgia continues to grow, this state is well-positioned for the future thanks to proactive planning, policies, and processes like the Integrated Resource Plan. The 2025 IRP provides a comprehensive plan to support Georgia’s continued economic growth and serve Georgians with clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy well into the future.”
Since 2023, Georgia Power customers have endured half a dozen rate increases to cover base electric rates, recover excess fuel expenses, and complete two nuclear power generators at Plant Vogtle. In January, Georgia Power raised its rates by 3.5%, making the typical monthly household bill $43 more expensive since the beginning of 2023.
Data center boom or bust?
The bulk of Georgia Power’s projected energy growth is tied to massive data centers to support the booming demand for artificial intelligence technology that drives internet search engines and other new software. In November, the company cited several dozen prospective companies expressing interest in opening massive data center facilities in Georgia, primarily around metro Atlanta.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers consume 10 to 50 times as much electricity as the average commercial building. The data centers are also known to bring voracious water requirements to communities that bring them in.
Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Jennifer Whitfield said Georgia Power is seeking to extend dirty coal-burning generators that will pose financial and environmental risks to ratepayers and people living in the communities surrounding the plants.
Coal “is not only an expensive and dirty fuel that Georgia Power didn’t even want a couple of years ago for some of these plants, but the data centers don’t want it either,” Whitfield said. “They want clean energy.”
A new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis shows that residential and legacy business ratepayers in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia are subsidizing the costs of proposed electrical infrastructure that will only grow more expensive if it is overbuilt in anticipation of electricity demand that might not materialize.
Cathy Kunkel, the energy consultant who authored the report, said the institute’s analysis raises concerns about utilities overestimating future energy demand for data centers. Data centers are often pitched in multiple states by technology companies, she said.
A gigawatt of power can be required to run large language AI computer models, according to Tim Lieuwen, executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute at Georgia Tech.
Georgia Power’s Plant McDonough produces a gigawatt of electricity, enough to power the city of Atlanta, he said.
Lieuwen said one of the major questions being asked in the technological industry is whether artificial intelligence is a risky economic bubble.
“I don’t want to speak for the technology companies, but I think I can capture their point, which is, ‘we don’t care,’ because the risk of under-investing so dramatically outweighs the risk of over-investing,” he said. “We’ve got to build out these data centers so that we can source the power needed for the large language models so we don’t fall far behind.”
Kunkel expressed concerns about the potential for AI to be underutilized or abandoned if it turns out to be more energy-intensive than currently forecast. She said Georgia Power has missed the mark with inflated forecasted growth demands in past projections.
“Maybe it’s better for the tech industry to overbuild in some way, but only because they’re passing the risk of that off to the ratepayers,” Kunkel said.
Georgia Power has successfully petitioned Georgia’s state regulatory commission to pass the cost of building out its transmission infrastructure to residential and legacy business customers.
Last week, the five-member PSC unanimously approved a new Georgia Power plan to address risks associated with these large-load users.
According to the rule, new customers using more than 100 megawatts of energy can be charged based on different conditions than standard customers. Data centers’ owners would be responsible for the transmission and distribution costs incurred by these large power users during construction. In addition, any new Georgia Power contract that exceeds 100 megawatts must be reviewed by the PSC.
“The amount of energy these new industries consume is staggering,” PSC Chairman Jason Shaw said in a statement. “By approving this new rule, the PSC is helping ensure that existing Georgia Power customers will be spared additional costs associated with adding these large-load customers to the grid.”
However, some environmentalists and consumer advocates warn that residential and business ratepayers may end up footing the bill if data companies never open in Georgia.
“We applaud the commission’s commitment to hold the line on customers’ bills, even in the face of the massive investments Georgia Power is requesting to serve this large load,” said Thomas Farmer, Southface Institute’s vice president of advocacy. “Residential and small business customers cannot be on the hook for unhealthy, expensive energy just to help Georgia Power profit from the data center boom.”
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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-23 13:33:00
(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock says ethics questions about his housing and financial disclosures already have been answered.
A conservative nonprofit in Washington is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust says information on his housing provided by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he’s been senior pastor since 2005, hasn’t been disclosed and his outside earned income is in question.
In an email to The Center Square, a statement from Warnock’s office says, “Reverend Warnock sought and received explicit approval from the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee on this matter. The ministry-owned housing is not income. Rather, it is a customary benefit provided to the senator because of his ongoing position as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, a position he has held for the past 20 years.”
The nonprofit said before moving into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided by the church, he was receiving $7,400 in monthly housing allowance. It also said he sold his previous home to buy one in the Washington area.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-22 12:06:00
(The Center Square) – An ethics organization is accusing Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of accepting housing from his church and not including it on financial disclosures.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation, according to a letter on the organization’s website.
The complaint says Warnock moved into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided to him by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the senator is pastor. Before Warnock moved into the residence, he was receiving a $7,400 monthly housing allowance from the church.
“Since moving into the luxury home, Sen. Warnock has not included any information about being provided housing on his financial disclosures,” the complaint said. “In addition to the undisclosed housing, he has reported receiving an annual income from the church just under the maximum outside earned income limit, for instance $31,815.12 in 2023.”
Warnock sold his former Georgia residence and purchased a home in Washington, the organization said.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from Warnock through his office prior to publication.
The 2026 race for Georgia governor is shaping up with candidates from both parties now entering the race.
Gov. Brian Kemp cannot run for a third term, leaving the keys to the governor’s mansion up for grabs.
Meet the declared candidates
Sen. Jason Esteves. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Democratic Atlanta Sen. Jason Esteves announced his candidacy Monday with an introduction video highlighting his experience, including as a former teacher and chair of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. In the video, titled “Underdog,” Esteves took aim at what he characterized as radical Republicans in the state government following the lead of President Donald Trump.
“I’ve had enough of families working harder than ever but still struggling and our kids falling behind instead of getting ahead,” Esteves said in his announcement video. “Yet extreme politicians in Georgia push Trump’s reckless agenda, rig the system for special interests and stick us with the bill.”
As Esteves read these lines, the screen flashed with images of Trump, Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Esteves’ only announced Republican rival, Attorney General Chris Carr, who became the first to throw his hat in the ring in November.
Attorney General Chris Carr speaks at the 2025 Georgia Faith and Freedom Luncheon in Atlanta. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Carr’s campaign has highlighted his experience in law enforcement, especially operations targeting immigrants, gang members and human traffickers.
“For decades, we’ve been the best place to live, work, raise a family and build a business,” Carr said in his introductory video, titled “Keep Georgia Strong.” “That hasn’t happened by chance. It’s happened because we’ve had leaders who are willing to make tough decisions, put Georgians first and stood strong in the face of adversity. Progressive activists are trying to radically transform our values and our economy. As your attorney general, I’ve made it my mission to keep Georgia safe.”
Carr has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s second-term agenda, but their relationship hasn’t always been chummy. In 2022, Trump called Carr “a disaster every step of the way” and backed an unsuccessful primary challenge against him after Carr declined to investigate Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Meet the maybe candidates
Lt. Gov. Jones, a Republican who is widely considered likely to enter the governor’s race, is considered a more steadfast Trump ally – Jones was one of Georgia’s so-called fake electors, who met at the state Capitol in 2020 to cast votes for Trump even after his loss to Joe Biden was officially certified.
President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones at a rally in Zebulon in 2024. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Jones’ closeness to the president could benefit him in a Republican primary, but it’s less clear whether his tightness with Trump will help or hurt in a general race. How Trump shapes the race will likely depend on how Georgians’ view the chief executive during the buildup to next year’s election season.
“If the economy goes bad, if inflation is up, if unemployment is up, then some of the luster may be taken off of Trump,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. “Now, for the MAGA folks, it probably doesn’t matter, but for the critical element of independents and, in the general election, of white, college-educated voters, if Trump’s attractiveness has been substantially reduced, then that certainly works for the advantage of Democrats.”
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another rumored but unconfirmed candidate, could also make a reasonable play as someone Trump-skeptical conservatives and independents could back.
Raffensperger was on the other end of the now-infamous 2021 phone call in which Trump called on him to “find” enough votes to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Raffensperger declined, earning the ire of Trump and many of his supporters.
Firebrand conservative Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is another member of the maybe column – she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast back in February that she was open to either a run for the governorship or for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat, which is also on the ballot in 2026.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
On the Democratic side, one much-speculated candidate seems less likely to have her eyes on Kemp’s job than she did last year.
Democratic Congresswoman Lucy McBath hasn’t ruled out a run entirely, but she announced late last month that she was suspending her bid as she focuses on the health of her husband, who recently underwent surgery for cancer.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who recently served as an advisor to former President Joe Biden, told 11Alive News early this month that she plans to run for governor.
Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has not ruled out a run – and neither has former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who became a household name after narrowly losing to Kemp in 2018 and again by a wider margin in 2022.
A crowded Democratic primary could be just the thing to dash the Dems’ dreams, Bullock said, if the intra-party attacks get too intense.
“If they get into it, then a lot of money will be spent within the primary, and sooner or later, even though they may start out simply singing their own praises, there would be a tendency to go negative, especially if at least three serious candidates get into it so you have a run-off. That’s when attacks really become strong.”
The elephant in the room
Gov. Brian Kemp. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Kemp is reportedly considering a run at Ossoff’s seat.
Many Republicans would be thrilled to see Kemp’s name on the ballot next to Ossoff’s – Kemp enjoys relatively high approval ratings and has shown he can win statewide races in campaigns for governor and secretary of state.
But Kemp – whose name has also been floated as a potential presidential candidate in the future – may see moving to the Senate as a downgrade, Bullock said.
As governor, Kemp has sway over all aspects of state government, but he would be one of 100 in the Senate, and as a newly elected senator, he’d be too low on the seniority rankings to chair any important committees.
“He’s going to be far less visible in that role, the scope of his influence is going to be tiny compared to what he has now,” Bullock said. “He’s not going to be living in a mansion. He’s going to be living probably in an apartment, maybe in the Watergate building. He’s not going to have an SUV and a state patrolman to drive him around.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Once Kemp makes a decision, expect plenty of dominoes to fall afterwards.
Georgia Fire and Insurance Commissioner John King has said he would consider a run for Senate if Kemp does not. Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper has also publicly teased the idea of running.
“Conceivably, virtually the entire hierarchy of statewide Republican officials could give up their current positions, which would be then just wildness in terms of primaries, probably on both sides, of candidates running for each of those statewide offices,” Bullock said. “You may well clear out a large share of the state Senate and some of the state House. It may be if you show up January of 2027 at the Capitol, you may not recognize anybody because they’ve all run for something, cleared out the state Legislature. So this could be an extraordinary election cycle in Georgia.”
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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Assessment: Center-Left
The content primarily focuses on the upcoming gubernatorial race in Georgia, presenting information about various candidates from both major political parties. It features a Democratic candidate, Sen. Jason Esteves, who is characterized as progressive, particularly in his criticism of Republican leaders and their alignment with Trump’s agenda. This framing suggests a critical stance towards the conservative party and its policies. Additionally, the article highlights the controversy surrounding Republican candidates and their affiliations with Trump, which may imply a negative viewpoint of these figures.
While the piece includes perspectives from both Democrats and Republicans, the emphasis on the Democrats’ campaign strategies and criticisms of Republicans gives it a Center-Left political bias. Overall, the content leans toward a more critical view of conservative politics while presenting Democratic candidates in a favorable light.
