Concerned voices cling to the muggy air in Georgia as citizen Jean Millkey shares her unease with state regulators about the spiraling costs of electricity, a sentiment echoing throughout Atlanta, particularly at a recent public hearing. The heart of the matter: Georgia Power's plan to erect three new methane gas and oil burning units to satisfy the state's surging demands, as reported by the Georgia Recorder. Millkey, resonating with the struggles of many Georgians, told them "I'm lucky because I can afford this double increase, and I won't have to cut back on groceries, but there are a lot of people out there who are struggling."
Environmentalists are raising their own alarm, showing sharp disapproval prior to Georgia Power officials throwing their weight behind the pressing need to amass more fossil fuel sources, despite the added financial weight on customers' shoulders and the yawning longevity of these potential sources stretching nearly half a century and the Southern Environmental Law Center pinned down the Yates project as a behemoth, chewing through around half of Georgia Power's $3 billion in updated strategic plan revisions. Advocates for greener paths criticized the company’s sidestep from a competitive bidding process that might save the day and dollars for folks who pay the bills.
There's no lacking in promises from Georgia Power, taking a vow to shield customers from cost overruns, save for the unforeseeable acts of God such as natural disasters. As Jeffrey Grubb, director of resource and planning for Georgia Power put it in the company's defense, "The stipulation is specific on situations that we could come back and ask for cover of that, but it’s not on what the company controls for construction." The claim of future efficiency of the new Yates units, as presented by Grubb, dangles the carrot of energy progress before the wary eyes of the Georgia Public Service Commission and the public.
Sparks of tension fly over the intensifying debate on Georgia Power's utility rates climbing in recent years, where customers forked over more on electric base rates and shouldered brunt of the fuel costs, coal ash cleanup, and Plant Vogtle's ballooning costs; however, amidst the sizzle of these controversies Georgia Power is drafting a greener landscape with its revised direction, plotting a course for 1,000 megawatts of solar capacity with battery storage by early 2027, as they entwine their fates with natural gas purchasing agreements in Florida and with Mississippi Power. The Sierra Club and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy have an ace up their sleeve with economic and financial consultant Albert Lin steering the PSC commissioners to hit the brakes on the Yates certification until a fresh fuel recovery policy is in place to save Georgia Power customers from bankrolling 100% of the project, Lin argued, "The practice of passing through all the fuel costs has been around for some 50 years... Today, things are very different. Innovation and technology has created ways to conserve, to create demand response programs and to generate electricity with all kinds of technologies with low or no fuel cost."
A looming date of August 15 has been circled on calendars, as this is when Georgia Power, alongside the lawyers, environmentalists, and watchdogs, gear up for another swing at swaying the PSC committee, before the definitive decision on the Yates expansion ticks down to zero on August 20. It's more than a clash over megawatts and environmentally sound investment, it's a tussle for the future of power, both electric and the power wielded by the people of Georgia in shaping their economic and environmental destinies.
