Georgia Power's Latest Power Grab: Data Centers, Your Wallet, and a Predictable Screwjob
Alright, let’s talk about Georgia Power. Because, honestly, what else is there to talk about when your utility bills keep climbing faster than my blood pressure reading after looking at said bills? The latest bombshell? PSC staff — the folks who are supposed to be watching out for us — are dropping some serious truth bombs. They’re saying your monthly power bill could jump another $20. Or more. All so Georgia Power can bankroll a massive, speculative buildout for data centers.
Twenty bucks a month. That’s like, two fancy coffees, or a decent lunch, or, you know, just another chunk of change ripped straight from your already strained budget. And for what? For server farms. Giant, power-hungry warehouses for AI and whatever other digital nonsense we’re all supposed to be addicted to. Georgia Power wants to add a whopping 10,000 megawatts to its generation fleet in the next five years. To put that in perspective, a single nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle — a project that was, let’s be real, a financial black hole — kicks out about 1,100 megawatts. We’re talking about building nearly ten Vogtle-sized power generators, just for data centers. And the PSC staff? They’re recommending we only approve about a third of that. The rest, they warn, is pure speculation.
Think about that for a second. "The rest is speculative and exposes customers to the risk of stranded costs if the anticipated load does not materialize," said Robert Trokey, the PSC’s electric section director. Stranded costs. That’s fancy corporate-speak for "you, the customer, are gonna pay for our bad bets." It’s like Georgia Power is playing a high-stakes poker game with your money, but they’re the only ones who get to walk away with winnings. And if they lose? Well, tough luck, buddy. Your bill just went up. Again. This ain't a fair game, not by a long shot.
Who's Really Paying the Price?
So, where does this leave us? In a familiar spot, that’s where. Just weeks ago, two Republican PSC commissioners got booted in elections where voters were absolutely livid about their rising utility bills. You’d think that would send a message, right? A clear, unmistakable "we’re sick of this" from the people who actually pay the freight. But nope. Those same outgoing commissioners, Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols, get to cast their final votes on this critical case days before they officially shuffle off into the sunset. Talk about a slap in the face. It's a bad idea. No, 'bad' doesn't cover it — it's a cynical, last-ditch power play designed to rubber-stamp corporate demands before the new blood can even warm their seats.
Georgia Power, offcourse, says the demand isn't speculative. A company spokesperson trotted out some numbers about 11,000 megawatts of "committed" large customers. "Committed," they say. But the PSC staff, bless their cynical hearts, point out that data center operators cancel contracts or just pack up and leave for other states all the time. It’s already happened in Georgia. And if these operators bail, who’s left holding the bag for all those expensive new power plants, electricity contracts, and grid upgrades? You are. Me too. Everyone who isn't a massive, transient data center.
They even had the gall to agree on "new billing terms" earlier this year, supposedly to "protect" non-data center customers. But guess what? Most of the contracts Georgia Power has signed so far were inked before those new rules took effect. So, as Trokey and his consultants bluntly put it, "Without executed contracts under the new large load framework, there is no guarantee those costs will not be passed on to existing customers." Translation: those "protections" are about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. And Georgia Power? They stand to profit "tremendously" from this expansion, potentially nearly doubling their "rate base," which is just another way to say "how much money they can make off of us."
I mean, seriously, are we supposed to believe they're just altruistically building out infrastructure for the good of the digital age? Give me a break. It's about their bottom line, plain and simple. They’ll ask to charge us for a whole slew of "tangential costs," whether these data centers even get built or not. And while all this financial maneuvering for massive corporate profits is happening, Georgia Power is also busy slapping their name on things like "IllumiNights: A Lantern Festival presented by Georgia Power" at Zoo Atlanta. All those pretty lights, all that "Earth’s wonders aglow" nonsense, conveniently distracting from the fact that they’re about to dim your wallet. It's a nice little PR sheen, isn't it? A glowing facade for a company that seems intent on squeezing every last cent out of its actual customers. Maybe I’m just too cynical, but the timing feels… deliberate.
Your Bills, Their Bonanza.
Look, the PSC staff recommended approving only 3,100 megawatts, maybe another 4,200 with conditions, and outright rejecting the most expensive 2,400 megawatts. That sounds like common sense. But common sense and corporate profits rarely walk hand-in-hand, do they? We're stuck in a system where a utility company can gamble with our money, wrap it in corporate jargon, and then slap their logo on a pretty light show to make us forget the pain. So, what’s the real plan here? Are we just going to keep footing the bill for every one of Georgia Power's grand, speculative schemes until we're all living by candlelight? Or will someone, anyone, actually stand up for the people who keep the lights on—not just the ones that power servers?
