Georgia Power Says Data Centers Will Lower Your Bills. Critics Say ‘Prove It.’

Georgia Power claims your power bill could be $102 a year lower in 2028 thanks to data centers, but consumer advocates have spent months questioning whether that will actually happen.

What’s Happening: The utility reached a deal Tuesday with the Public Interest Advocacy Staff — consumer representatives who work for the state Public Service Commission. The agreement would let Georgia Power build nearly 10,000 megawatts of new power generation. Georgia Power says data centers will pay for the infrastructure, keeping residential rates lower.

Now the deal goes to the five elected PSC commissioners, who will vote on it at a public meeting this month.

What’s Important: This promise depends on data centers generating at least $556 million per year in revenue for Georgia Power. But earlier this year, the PSC’s own staff criticized Georgia Power’s demand forecasts as overblown, and environmental groups say the company hasn’t proven data centers won’t stick regular customers with the bill.

The details on how much data centers will actually cost customers remain secret until 2028, when Georgia Power files its next rate case. That’s when you’ll find out if your rate increase is $102 smaller than it would have been — or not.

Catch Up Quick: Georgia Power customers have been slammed with six rate increases since early 2023. The average household now pays about $43 more per month than they did two years ago. Most electric bills in Georgia now top $175 monthly.

The company agreed in May to freeze base rates through 2028, but that freeze doesn’t include storm damage costs or other charges. Environmental groups warned bills would still climb anyway.

The Big Picture: Georgia’s electricity demand is exploding because of data centers — massive computer warehouses that can use as much power daily as 350,000 hot water heaters. Nearly 30 large projects are under construction or planned across the state.

For months earlier this year, the PSC’s own consumer advocacy staff criticized Georgia Power’s projections about how much power these data centers will actually need. Staff called the forecasts unreliable because large-scale data centers are so new that there’s little history to base predictions on.

Consumer watchdog groups like the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council filed testimony in July saying Georgia Power failed to prove data centers would result in lower rates for regular customers. They said the agreement “doesn’t require the utility company to prove that data centers would result in lower rates for all customers or how the costs of bringing these facilities online will be socialized among existing billpayers.”

State regulators passed new rules in January requiring data centers to pay for transmission and distribution costs as construction progresses and to provide financial guarantees. The rules are designed to protect homeowners if data centers don’t materialize after Georgia Power builds expensive power plants for them.

What They’re Building: If the PSC commissioners approve, Georgia Power would add more than 3,600 megawatts of natural gas generation, over 3,000 megawatts of battery storage, 350 megawatts of battery plus solar, and buy power from other sources totaling 2,800 megawatts.

Between the Lines: Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene said “large energy users are paying more so families and small businesses can pay less.” But the track record suggests skepticism is warranted.

Data centers don’t typically lower electricity rates — they require massive infrastructure buildouts that raise costs. Georgia Power’s promise is that data centers will pay for their own infrastructure under the new rules, but consumer advocates have consistently argued the details remain murky and the proof won’t come until 2028.

The claimed $102 savings also assumes data centers actually show up and use all the power Georgia Power is building capacity for, and that Georgia Power doesn’t ask for other rate increases between now and 2028 beyond storm costs.

Patrick King of the Natural Resources Defense Council said in July that customers “are being asked to trust a process that offers little clarity.”