by Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder
Georgia Power projects that over the next decade the state will be leading the nation’s second industrial revolution, led by artificial intelligence boosting data centers, which could triple the state’s energy consumption.
According to Georgia Power’s projections, the company’s projected 12,000 megawatts load growth will triple by the mid-2030, which is consistent with the state’s consistently upward trending economic prospects the company cites as it requests a significant expansion of its energy capacity.
“The latest data continue to support Georgia Power’s expectation for continued and robust economic growth in Georgia and the timing of new large loads,” the company’s Nov. 18 economic development outlook reads. “The pipeline of committed and potential economic development projects continues to grow.”
The Georgia Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote by next 2025 on the company’s long-term plans. The five-member board regulates the state’s utilities and will determine whether new natural gas plants will be built, if more solar power capacity is added, and how much more electricity customers will be charged when the company passes along rising costs.
Georgia Power is estimating that about 90 large-sized industrial projects could be built in Georgia before the end of the decade. Georgia Power has received commitments to purchase its electricity from about 70 prospective data center facilities should they be built inside the Peach State.
However, clean energy advocates are among the knowledgeable critics expressing skepticism about Georgia Power’s projected list of commitments from large data centers, questioning the accuracy of energy demand forecasts over the next several years and what the company says are actual energy usage levels by new data centers.
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