California’s economy is the fifth largest in the world, behind the United States, China, Germany, and Japan. Technologies we know and love were born there: Apple, Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Uber—to name a few. They have beaches, almost perfect weather, entertainment, sports and Hollywood—but it has been challenging for the average person to survive financially there. Housing and job opportunities seem to be the major reason for population flight according to an energy leader I talked with. Add electricity prices at about 11 percent above the national average, and you can see the challenge California has with affordability.
In Georgia, we are actually leveraging energy costs as an economic development tool. Southern Company and Georgia Power have a reputation for high reliability. Our PSC has approved projects that have created a high reserve margin, like Plant Vogtle. And with our rates 15 percent below the national average, and 0% sales tax on manufacturing, you can see why many Fortune 500 companies now call Georgia home. Their presence in Georgia creates high paying jobs which in turn improve our tax base and create other service jobs in communities where their factories locate.
These factories and data centers need mass quantities of power and backup natural gas generation to keep running in outages, and they want it in a relatively quick time. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns earlier this month announced a special committee to study our state’s resource management plan. No doubt that review will include the impact of these centers. But still, thanks to Georgia tax incentives and reasonably priced electricity in our state, more data centers and large-load customers are looking for sites throughout our state with adequate land, power and water. These centers bring immense capital and contributions to the tax base, offer premiums for the right property, support community infrastructure upgrades and often give financial support to community initiatives.
Last year, our Public Service Commission took emergency action to acquire 3,300 megawatts of additional capacity, making sure the cost was borne by those asking for that power. In fact, Georgia Power agreed to reduce the average monthly bill by $2.89 as a result of these new loads and additional resources. Just recently, the PSC took further action and created new rules for very large-load customers, including data centers, to protect residential, small-business and existing large-business customers. Longer-term contracts, credit requirements, minimal bill provisions and appropriate termination policies guard against instances in which data centers or others might exit the system sooner than required to pay for their costs. These PSC-approved actions go a long way in resolving concerns from Georgia political leaders and ratepayers.
I know there is a lingering concern across Georgia about energy prices after the COVID-19 pandemic, vast inflation, hurricanes, winter storms and the completion of Plant Vogtle, a worthy project that went way over budget because of the bankruptcy of Westinghouse. But our PSC, a group of five elected officials, has proactively secured the power we all need and a healthy reserve margin — with more to come.
This energy policy and planning are often cited by companies coming to Georgia as a deciding factor. Our state has scooped up many clean energy projects. We landed the Hyundai Car Plant, the largest project ever in our state. Qcells, in Cartersville and Dalton, is the largest solar panel manufacturer in North America. SK Innovations in Commerce is a massive battery manufacturer making batteries for the F-150 and other models. Ascend Elements in Covington is the largest battery recycler in North America. Solarcycle being built in Northwest Georgia recycles solar panels. Bluebird buses down in Fort Valley make electric and traditional school buses. Clubcar and E-Z-GO in Augusta make more low-speed electric vehicles than any place in America.
The Kia plant has been expanded and is making the EV6 and EV9 models. And Rivian has plans to build a mammoth car plant east of Atlanta, thanks to an injection of cash from Volkswagen and the Department of Energy. A deregulated natural gas system — second to none — allows us to greatly reduce pollution, especially in Atlanta. The list goes on. We have the fourth-largest container port in America. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the busiest on the planet. And Atlanta is the “fintech” capital of the United States. We have the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a world-class aquarium and are home to many civil rights icons.
In Georgia, we have made steps to secure for our state an abundance of energy through multiple sources, making us attractive to both data centers and manufacturing. We are ready for the future.
Tim Echols is a statewide elected official on the Georgia Public Service Commission, having served since 2011.
