Georgia utility projects ‘extraordinary’ load growth in plan to satisfy data centres

Georgia Power has filed its 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), a roadmap for how the utility intends to meet the energy needs of its customers while supporting the state’s “extraordinary” load growth.

Over the next six years, Georgia Power projects approximately 8,200MW of electrical load growth – an increase of more than 2,200MW by the end of 2030 compared to projections in the 2023 IRP Update. The filing, which proposes investments in Georgia Power’s generation fleet and transmission system, builds upon its previous IRPs and the 2023 IRP Update, which was approved by the Georgia PSC in April 2024.

“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.”

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In its 2025 IRP, Georgia Power proposes continued investments in existing power plants already in operation. Proposed economical extensions and enhancements to existing generating units include:

• Extended power uprates to units at Plants Hatch and Vogtle

With the completion of Units 3 & 4 at Plant Vogtle, Georgia is now home to the largest generator of clean energy in the US, and Georgia Power continues to argue the importance of additional nuclear capacity for Georgia’s energy future. In this IRP, the company has proposed additional investment in Hatch Units 1 & 2 and Vogtle Units 1 & 2 to enable those units to deliver an additional 112 MW to Georgia Power customers.

• Extensions and upgrades to existing power plants

The company’s integration of “cleaner natural gas” – which it says has helped reduce overall carbon emissions by more than 60% since 2007 – into its fleet continues in the 2025 IRP, with additional upgrades planned for Plant McIntosh near Savannah that would add an additional 268 MW of capacity. The company has also proposed extended operation of certain coal and natural gas units through at least 2034, with additional upgrades and compliance activities planned at multiple facilities. This effort includes the continued operation of coal-fired units at Plants Bowen and Scherer, which have served Georgia Power customers for decades with approximately 4,000MW of electricity.

• Continued investment to modernise and operate Georgia’s hydro fleet

Georgia Power’s fleet of hydroelectric generating units is another source of emission-free energy, with some units serving the state of Georgia for more than 100 years. The 2025 IRP continues the company’s efforts to modernise its hydro fleet with new projects for 9 existing hydro plants including critical replacements and refurbishments needed for turbines, generators, and other equipment. These units have not been previously approved for modernisation and these efforts are expected to allow them to operate for at least another 40 years while improving the efficiency and integrity of the hydro fleet and preserving valuable, dispatchable carbon-free resources for the long-term benefit of customers.

And what about renewables?

The company’s long-term plan highlights the procurement of a total of 4,000MW of renewable resources by 2035, with at least 1,100MW of new renewable resources proposed in this IRP. These new resources would expand the company’s renewable resource portfolio to approximately 11,000 MW by 2035.

Procurement of energy from new battery energy storage systems (BESS) is also expected to be a part of all-source capacity RFPs, building on the company’s current plans to add more than 1,500MW of BESS in the coming years.

Grid reliability

In recent years, the company has experienced fewer and shorter power interruptions, and the state’s growing smart grid is reducing service impacts of severe weather from events like Hurricane Helene and Winter Storm Cora, Georgia Power said.

The 2025 IRP includes Georgia Power’s 10-year transmission plan, which identifies the improvements needed to maintain a reliable transmission system to move energy from new and existing power plants to customers across the state. The plan proposes new transmission resources across more than 1,000 miles of lines. Additionally, the company has proposed a variety of economic and innovative solutions, including new grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) to help meet increasing grid capacity needs and enable further reliable integration of the state’s growing amount of solar generation and BESS.

Keeping the customers in mind

In addition to investments in its transmission and generation systems and assets, Georgia Power stressed the importance of demand-side resources, such as energy efficiency programmes and demand response programmes, to its resource mix and customers’ overall experience.

“The changing needs of our customers – and how they use energy every day in their homes and businesses – are at the centre of every decision we make,” Greene said. “We work with customers every day to help them find solutions that work for them, and we know that every kilowatt we can help them save matters. Through the IRP process, we not only consider how we make and move electricity, but also how to leverage the latest customer insights to develop programs that help our customers meet their unique needs and use energy more efficiently.”

Customer-focused highlights of the 2025 IRP include solutions to meet increasing customer demand for emission-free, sustainable, and resilient energy including a new solar + storage programme for residential and small commercial customers; a new distributed energy resource (DER)-enabled demand response programme aimed at meeting the capacity and resiliency needs of large customers; and expanding existing customer subscription programnes to facilitate the addition of more renewable resources available for customer subscriptions. The IRP also includes a focus on demand-side management offerings specifically for income-qualified customers. The company proposes to continue and expand its programmes including Energy Assistance for Savings and Efficiency (EASE) and HopeWorks, among other adjustments to various customer programmes.

Originally published on Factor This by Sean Wolfe