PSC votes on Georgia Power’s controversial ask. Lawyers demand customer protection
Friday afternoon, three hours after the scheduled vote, the Georgia Public Service Commission made history, voting unanimously in favor of one of the largest power requests in the United States.
The 5-0 vote by the all-Republican commission approved a controversial 10,000 megawatt request by Georgia Power to cover utility and power needs through 2031.
The approval came with protest.
As commission chairman Jason Shaw asked for a vote, protestors erupted in the Atlanta chamber at 244 Washington St., chanting, “Nay nay nay. The people say nay,” and repeating the chant until they were escorted out by federal police. People in the back of the chamber said, “Quack,” when Commissioners Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson were called out by public commenters, alluding to their “lame duck” position. Both commissioners lost their November election and will no longer serve in less than two weeks.
Several public witnesses expressed frustration and dismay at the vote, calling it a sham and corrupt.
People chanting also gave public comments opposing this agreement because of the impact the agreement will have on power bills, the environment and general lack of support of data centers. The deal is intended to help power large-load customers, which Georgia Power testified is 90% of the 10 GW customer request.
For the past six weeks, the commission has heard from the power company, PSC staff, legal parties and the public arguing for and against this historic request.
The Southern Environmental Law Center and the Sierra Club have criticized the 10-gigawatt, $50 billion to $60 billion deal powered by battery and gas plants for a variety of reasons. The PSC staff, which the commissioners rely on for support, were also critical of this deal, until a new deal was negotiated last week, which now has the staff’s recommendation.
“This docket resolves the power we need to keep the state moving forward to 2031,” Echols said via Zoom.
Commissioner Bubba McDonald said the commission does not solicit data centers but provides an opportunity for any large manufacturer, whether it’s lumber or other manufacturing factories.
What is in the certified deal?
Georgia Power gets to build around 4,000 MW of gas plants and 6,000 MW of battery plants across the Peach State. Customers are guaranteed at least $8.50 off their monthly bill between 2028 and 2031. Georgia Power claims this funding will come from revenue generated by large-load customers (mainly data centers).
If that growth does not materialize, because only a small portion of the resources are contracted, the agreement states Georgia Power will take the financial risk and continue to pay the $8.50 until 2031, according to Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Bob Sherrier. This is one of the reasons staff recommended this new agreement.
Ahead of the vote, the SELC requested more information from Georgia Power about showing their work and how they calculated “revenue requirements.”
“Revenue requirements are missing–we don’t know that number. … How much is that for ‘29, ‘30, ‘31?” SELC lawyer, Jennifer Whitfield posed. “We need to know today what the financial assumptions are in that promise.”
“Sweet Pea you will have a great indicator of those numbers in the ‘28 rate case,” McDonald said to Whitfield.
Last-minute pleas
Whitfield also asked whether all the information regarding revenue gets put into the record.
Shaw denied that but granted a hearing regarding trade secret information that Whitfield’s client Southface and Georgia Interfaith Power and Light requested.
Sherrier asked for more protection for consumers.
“When you vote today, no matter what resources you decide to certify, we ask you to enact a policy to ensure existing customers are protected from bearing any cost to serve any large-load customers, what commissioners intend to be, and to match Georgia Power’s promises in its latest ad campaign — a full backstop rather than three years of downward protection,” Sherrier said.
Many public commenters requested a delay on the vote to March, saying this should not be rushed. Commissioner Tricia Pridemore said this date has been scheduled for months.
Less than five of the public commenters were in support of today’s vote asking the commission to approve Georgia Power’s request. Dozens of public commenters asked the commission to vote against this request.
Curt Thompson, the lawyer for the Sierra Club and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said the gas power plants, which pollute methane gas, will take 45 years to pay off. He said one of them is among the most expensive gas plants in the United States.
“Gas plants will have to be paid for by ratepayers until 2075, beyond this 2031 deal, even though residential customers are just a drop in the bucket of load growth,” Thompson said.
Public witness Julie Jabley was escorted out last week for a disruption and spoke at Friday’s meeting, telling the commissioners they were out of decorum.
“I was kicked out due to indecorous behavior, yet the commission decorum among this commission is far more incongruent with its obligations than my participation,” she said. “I find the decorum toward you 100% unmerited. Why are we being so polite and respectful while you are absolutely not being decent to the voters of this state…if you vote on the proposal you demonstrate an utter lack of respect for petitioners.”
Over 2,200 people signed a petition calling for approving only 3 GW of the request, delaying the approval and to end rubber-stamping and restore transparency.
This story was originally published December 19, 2025 at 2:51 PM.
