Georgia House passes ‘utility ratepayer protections’

The House passed legislation Tuesday that will “shield Georgia’s utility ratepayers from increased costs associated with servicing data centers and other large-load energy consumers, according Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington.

House Bill 1063, sponsored by Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, requires electric utility contracts with data centers to protect residential and retail customers from costs related to data center operation, mandates minimum billing requirements in contracts with large-load consumers to keep costs from being passed down to other customers, codifies protections for other customers if a data center were to default on its contract and mandates termination provisions to protect retail customers if an electric service contract with a data center ends.