Seven rural Georgia counties are getting new solar farms after state regulators approved 1,137 megawatts of solar power purchase agreements for Georgia Power, with the projects slated to start delivering electricity to the grid as early as 2029. The Georgia Public Service Commission signed off on seven utility-scale solar projects spread across Sumter, Irwin, Jefferson, Emanuel, Warren, Decatur and Appling counties, ranging in size from 78 megawatts to 200 megawatts each.
According to WSB-TV, the seven projects were procured through Georgia Power's CARES 2023 and CARES 2025 requests for proposals, with capacities set at 200 MW in Sumter County, 200 MW in Irwin County, 194 MW in Jefferson County, 185 MW in Emanuel County, 150 MW in Warren County, 130 MW in Decatur County, and 78 MW in Appling County. Wilson Mallard, Georgia Power's director of renewable development, said in comments carried by the outlet that renewable energy plays a large role in meeting the state's growth and growing energy needs, and that leaning on more solar power resources will help everyday Georgians with power affordability.
A Multiyear Solar Buildout Tied to Explosive Demand
The newly approved agreements add more than 1,100 megawatts of renewable energy resources to Georgia Power's generation portfolio, and they build on a state regulator approval of 1,068 MW of CARES 2023 projects made in 2025 — bringing the utility's total solar capacity approved through the CARES program over a two-year span to more than 2,200 MW, according to a filing detailed by PR Newswire. The CARES 2025 request for proposals was approved under Georgia Power's 2022 Integrated Resource Plan, and the subscription program is designed to help meet the state's growing energy needs by dividing projects into utility-scale and distributed generation categories.
Under that structure, utility-scale subscribers are commercial and industrial customers with annual demands exceeding 3 MW seeking projects larger than 6 MW, while distributed generation subscribers — those with demands between 1 MW and 3 MW — pursue smaller local solar projects ranging from 250 kilowatts to 6 MW. The program lets commercial, industrial and other eligible subscribers purchase a proportional share of energy generated by renewable facilities, per the same PR Newswire release.
Data Centers Are Driving the Rush for New Power
The timing lines up with a historic surge in electricity demand across Georgia. Under Georgia Power's 2025 Integrated Resource Plan, approved by state regulators in July 2025, the utility projected 8,500 MW of electrical load growth over six years — a jump of 2,600 MW over its 2023 projections — driven largely by data center expansion and industrial manufacturing, according to Georgia Power. That growth includes a planned $20 billion OpenAI data center complex near Savannah, which state regulators and the utility agreed in August 2026 would require 3,200 MW of new demand alongside 1,000 MW of flexible demand response, as reported on Facebook.
To bring more corporate-backed clean energy online quickly, Georgia Power opened enrollment in June 2026 for its Clean and Renewable Energy Subscription Customer-Identified Resource program, letting commercial and industrial customers bring forward up to 3,000 MW of self-selected clean energy projects — expanded capacity intended to meet growing subscriber demand for carbon-free power across the state. Hoodline previously covered the rollout of that program when it first won PSC approval.
Rate Hikes and Coal Extensions Complicate the Picture
The solar buildout is not happening in isolation. Georgia Power's approved 2025 Integrated Resource Plan sets an overall goal of procuring 4,000 MW of new renewable energy resources by 2035, leaving roughly 1.8 GW still to be procured following the latest approvals, according to Power Engineering. That same 2025 plan also permitted Georgia Power to delay the planned retirement of 4,000 MW of coal-fired generation at Plants Bowen and Scherer until at least 2034 while adding natural gas co-firing, giving the utility a dual track of aggressive solar procurement alongside extended fossil-fuel reliance.
Consumer advocates have raised concerns about who bears the cost of this rapid grid expansion. Figures compiled by the Southern Environmental Law Center show average residential electric bills for Georgia Power customers rose by more than $43 per month between 2023 and 2025 following six rate increases approved by state regulators. While corporate subscribers benefit from fixed-price, carbon-free solar power locked in over multi-decade contracts, environmental and consumer advocates have expressed lingering concern that residential ratepayers bear financial risk from the overall grid expansion after absorbing those increases.
What the New Solar Farms Mean for Host Counties
For the rural counties hosting the new projects, the calculus looks different. Land-use research cited here discusses environmental siting and general economic benefits. As of 2024, Georgia ranked seventh nationally in installed solar capacity, according to the cited material.
Georgia Power says the new solar resources approved this month will deliver affordable and reliable energy at a fixed price for its customers for years to come, and regulators describe the Public Service Commission's approval as a step that helps advance cost-effective renewable energy in Georgia. Whether that promise eases the pressure on residential bills, even as demand from data centers and heavy industry keeps climbing, remains the central question hanging over the state's energy future.
