PSC denies bid to reconsider Georgia Power’s 10-gigawatt expansion
The state’s Public Service Commission voted Wednesday to deny a motion to reconsider Georgia Power’s 10-gigawatt expansion plan, allowing the company to proceed with a build-out largely driven by new natural gas generation.
The motion, filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and other intervenors, asked regulators to revisit a December order certifying new power plant capacity based on projected need between 2029 and 2031.
The petition argued that Georgia Power’s own forecasts showed the plan would leave the company with more generating capacity than necessary and relied on, in part, demand from large customers that had not yet signed contracts.
The PSC’s vote was split 3–2. Newly elected commissioners Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson warned that approving the plan exposed customers to long-term financial risk if projected demand from data center development fails to materialize.
“There’s a substantial amount of risk in Georgia Power’s load forecast,” Hubbard said. “I toured a data center just two weeks ago that was built seven years ago and has not achieved two-thirds of its capacity. So there is a real risk that we are certifying resources for load that may not arrive.”
Commission staff recommended denying the reconsideration request, saying the stipulation adopted in December is legally sufficient. Earlier filings in the case show staff initially supported certifying only a fraction of the capacity Georgia Power sought before a stipulation among the parties reshaped the commission’s final approval.
Hubbard put forward a separate motion aimed at scaling back the commission’s earlier certification that would have removed Plant McIntosh Unit 12 and at least 2,622 megawatts of additional gas-fired capacity tied to unexecuted contracts.
Commissioner Bubba McDonald pointed to guarantees in the stipulation and the commission’s ability to revisit need in future proceedings in response to Hubbard’s concerns. Commission legal staff later said the agreement places the load-forecast risk on Georgia Power during the 2029 to 2031 period.
“The key issue under the statute is whether the resources that are being certified will provide an economical and reliable source of energy,” legal staff said during the hearing. “Given the stipulation and the guarantees that the company has made, we believe that the fundamental standard has been met.”
The commission voted 3–2 to reject Hubbard’s motion, with Hubbard and Johnson in support and Commissioners Jason Shaw, Tricia Pridemore and McDonald opposed.
“Georgia Power is treating the commission’s authorization for it to overbuild the system by at least 757 megawatts — an entire gas unit at Plant McIntosh — as nothing more than a rounding error that will cost customers billions of dollars,” said SELC staff attorney Bob Sherrier. “It is deeply troubling if this is the magnitude of mistakes that Georgia Power and the commission are willing to overlook in the rush to lay the red carpet for data centers.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 4:28 PM.
