Data centers in Georgia

MEAG Power, the joint municipal power agency that supplies wholesale electricity to participating Georgia municipal electric systems, says data center electricity use could grow from about 4 percent of United States electricity consumption in 2023 to roughly 9 percent by 2030, and that data center load on its own system could double within about five years. MEAG Power recently completed Plant Vogtle Unit 4, adding about 500 megawatts of nuclear generation, and has issued a request for proposals for additional generation resources that would need buy in from at least five of its participant systems before moving forward, with new gas or solar resources realistically available in about 4 to 5 years and nuclear in 10 or more years. MEAG Power is a municipal joint action agency, not a utility directly rate regulated by the Georgia PSC, so there is no state docket number for this planning process, and no specific verified dollar impact on municipal customer bills has been published yet.

Oglethorpe Power is the wholesale generation and transmission cooperative owned by Georgia's 38 electric membership cooperatives, and it is not directly rate regulated by the Georgia Public Service Commission the way Georgia Power is, so there is no PSC docket number for its generation projects. Oglethorpe Power broke ground on May 7, 2026 on a two unit, roughly 1,425 megawatt, 3.3 billion dollar combined cycle gas plant (Smarr Combined-Cycle facility) next to its existing Smarr Energy Facility in Monroe County, targeting commercial operation around 2029 to serve 29 of its 38 member cooperatives, plus a smaller gas addition planned at the Talbot Energy Facility for 2028. On October 14, 2026, the USDA announced a 3.3 billion dollar Rural Utilities Service loan to help finance the Smarr plant, calling it the largest loan in that program's history. No specific verified dollar impact on individual electric membership cooperative household bills has been published yet, since those retail rates are set separately by each member cooperative.

Georgia Public Service Commission staff opened Docket 57171 on July 7, 2026 to examine whether Georgia Power's real-time pricing methodology, used mainly by large industrial customers including data centers, shifts fuel, transportation, and hedging costs onto residential ratepayers. Staff have estimated the current allocation could drive residential fuel cost increases of 5 to 11 percent by 2028, with as much as 118 million dollars of 2027 pipeline costs potentially falling outside the real-time pricing rate class. Evidentiary hearings were held or are scheduled for September 1, October 15, and November 12, 2026, with Commission findings due by December 31, 2026.

In Dockets 56298 (2029-2031 All-Source Capacity RFP) and 56310 (Supplemental Resources for 2028-2031 Capacity), Georgia Power sought certification to build or acquire about 9,885 megawatts of new generation, mostly natural gas plants along with battery storage, to meet demand the company attributes largely to data centers and other large loads. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a stipulated agreement on December 19, 2025, tied to an estimated 16.5 billion dollars in construction costs, with total customer costs over the life of the resources estimated by some parties at 50 to 60 billion dollars. Under the stipulation, Georgia Power committed to at least 8.50 dollars a month of downward pressure on the typical residential bill during 2029 through 2031, about 102 dollars a year, largely because large load customers are expected to absorb a larger share of costs. Some consumer and environmental groups warned that if the projected data center demand does not fully materialize, residential customers could instead see costs rise by around 20 dollars a month, since PSC staff noted much of the forecast relies on a pipeline of prospective large customers rather than fully signed contracts.

Georgia Power's Integrated Resource Plan is the long range generation and demand forecast the company files with the Georgia PSC roughly every three years. The 2025 IRP, filed in this docket and centered on a stipulated agreement, projected large electric load growth over the following six years driven mainly by data centers and other large industrial customers moving into Georgia Power territory. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a stipulated version of the plan on July 15, 2025. The IRP does not set specific customer rates by itself, but it sets the framework and demand forecast behind the new power plants Georgia Power later asked to certify, which do eventually flow into customer bills.

Georgia Power filed separate fuel cost recovery (Docket 56765) and storm cost recovery (Docket 44280) cases with the Georgia PSC in February 2026. The original storm filing sought to recover 912 million dollars in storm reserve costs over four years, mostly tied to Hurricane Helene damage from 2024. After negotiation with PSC Public Interest Advocacy Staff, Georgia Power reduced its fuel cost balance request and news coverage of the settlement described the case storm revenue requirement being cut from about 270 million dollars to about 109 million dollars, a reduction of nearly 60 percent, though it is not fully clear from public reporting how that narrower figure relates to the original 912 million dollar total balance. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved the resulting stipulated agreement on May 28, 2026. Effective June 1, 2026, the typical residential customer using about 1,000 kilowatt hours a month sees a combined decrease of about 4.04 dollars per month, or about 50 dollars per year, with about 285 million dollars in total annual savings across all Georgia Power customers. During the case, PSC staff and consumer advocates argued that large industrial customers and data centers were not fully covering the extra fuel and infrastructure costs their load growth causes for other customers, and the commission agreed to open a separate 2026 investigation into how those costs are divided between industrial and residential ratepayers.

The Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved a new rule requiring new large load customers with expected peak demand of 100 megawatts or more at one site, mainly data centers, to sign customized contracts instead of using standard rate tariffs. These contracts can run up to 15 years instead of the previous 5 year limit, can require financial guarantees such as security deposits or letters of credit, set minimum monthly payments regardless of actual usage, and must be filed with the PSC at least 30 days before Georgia Power signs them. The rule is meant to make large load customers responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution investment needed to serve them, so that existing residential and small business customers do not absorb those costs if a large project leaves the state early.

Georgia Power and the Georgia PSC Public Interest Advocacy Staff reached a stipulated agreement extending the alternate rate plan first approved in the 2022 rate case, keeping Georgia Power base electricity rates flat through at least 2028. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved the stipulation by vote on July 1, 2025, with a formal order issued July 31, 2025. The freeze applies only to base rates and does not limit separate fuel cost recovery or storm cost recovery charges, both of which can still change a residential bill during the freeze period. Georgia Power has said growth in large load customers such as data centers helped make the freeze possible by spreading fixed costs across a larger customer base.