Groups challenge PSC’s approval of massive Georgia Power gas expansion

ATLANTA, GA - Environmental organizations and faith communities filed an appeal today asking a Fulton County Superior Court to review the Georgia Public Service Commission's December decision to approve Georgia Power's proposal to add an additional 10 GW of energy generation to the grid at customers' expense without proving a need for such a major investment.

Filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL), Park Avenue Baptist Church, and Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah, and the Sierra Club on behalf of itself, Adrien Webber, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), the petition for review argues that the Commission's decision failed to comply with laws intended to protect the public from overbuilding and customers from unnecessary utility costs.

As referenced in the petition for review, the Commission approved building one of the most expensive gas units in the country at Plant McIntosh, despite Georgia Power's own modeling showing that it's not needed to serve growing demand.

Georgia Power claims more than 80 percent of its newly projected large load growth is coming from data centers. To meet this claimed demand, the company intends to build eight brand new methane gas units in the hopes that projected data center demand will materialize. Georgia Power recoups profit on every dollar it spends on these investments, while customers bear all the risk of this massive financial gamble.

The petition also asks for judicial oversight of the Commission's failure to follow the legal framework for approving new energy resources, which is critically important when faced with a proposal that leave customers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in costs for decades to come.

"With major energy policy decisions that would lock-in Georgia Power ratepayers to paying for excessive, expensive dirty fossil fuel projects through 2075, the need for transparency and thorough review has never been more important," said Maggie Shober, Research Director from SACE. "With this appeal, we are asking the Commission to follow the legal requirements that allow advocates to be part of the conversation for better policies and programs for Georgia's energy future."

"While many Georgians are already struggling to pay their power bills and make ends meet, Georgia Power continues to invest in dirty, expensive, generational energy projects we don't need," said Codi Norred, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light. "This appeal is an important step in transparency and accountability to ensure energy decisions are made with Georgians' best interests in mind, not Georgia Power's profits."

"As a Georgia resident, a Sierra Club member, and the Georgia Chapter Director representing more than 8,700 members who overwhelmingly rely on Georgia Power for their electricity, I have seen firsthand how rising utility bills strain households and community organizations," said Adrien Webber (he/him), Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director and a plaintiff in this suit. "The Commission's approval of new gas units in the 2025 All-Source Certification proceeding will only prolong fossil-fuel dependence, worsen pollution, and impose unnecessary costs that show up directly on the bills of Georgians. We are tired of a Public Service Commission bending and outright breaking its rules and the law to give Georgia Power whatever it wants, no matter the cost to our air and water or the impact on our monthly energy bills. The Fulton County Superior Court must send this dangerous, expensive buildout back to the PSC for reconsideration."

"We serve a congregation that is already overly burdened by energy costs," said Reverend Keyanna Jones Moore, Park Avenue Baptist Church. "The approval of Georgia Power's energy expansion, which includes polluting energy sources, would add to that burden. That burden would not only manifest itself financially, as our congregants would pay the hefty cost of environmental and health hazards that show up as a result of dirty energy use."

"As a person of faith, what concerns me about the Public Service Commission's decision to grant 100% of Georgia Power's request for expansion of resources and facilities is not just that it's illegal, but that it's immoral," said Kevin Ionno, member of Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah. "The Commission's approval will result in increased rates and fees for Georgia Power customers, who have no choice of electric utility provider. Families who are already struggling financially will be especially hard hit with the heavier energy burden and increased hardship."

Background:

Sierra Club on behalf of SACE, and SELC on behalf of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light and Southface Institute intervened in the certification proceedings, arguing that Georgia Power's load projections are inflated, and that the cost impact of these new resources should be transparent.

Following the Commission's December 19 vote to approve every resource Georgia Power requested, SELC and the Sierra Club filed a motion for reconsideration urging the Commission to deny certification of several unnecessary gas plants, including two new units at Plant McIntosh. On February 18, the Commission denied the motion in a 3-2 vote.