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.

By Cindy Morley

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.

“The Georgia House has presented the strongest, most effective plan to ensure Georgia utility ratepayers aren’t footing the bill for data centers,” said Speaker Burns. “This bill not only codifies the cost protection regulations adopted by the Public Service Commission but also goes a step further by safeguarding energy affordability for Georgia families and small businesses by ensuring data centers and large-load consumers pay their own way up front.”

The bill requires a contract between an electric utility and a data center for the provision of electric service including terms and conditions designed to protect residential and retail electricity customers from costs associated with data center construction and operation. Among the inclusions in this contract are minimum billing requirements designed to recover incremental costs associated with serving or preparing to serve a data center and a contract term that may exceed the length of the applicable service tariff.

Also included are:

● Performance and credit provisions designed to protect retail customers in the event of contract default

● Termination provisions designed to protect retail customers in the event of

termination of the contract for electric service.

“Georgia is experiencing unprecedented demand for energy from data centers. That growth can be good for our state, but only if it’s managed responsibly,” said Rep. Thomas. “The Public Service Commission has already put strong cost allocation rules in place. House Bill 1063 takes those protections and puts them into statute so they can’t be weakened, reinterpreted or bypassed down the road.”

Improvements continue at the Port of Brunswick, including dredging which is currently taking place and is aimed at returning the channel to its authorized depth. A separate Brunswick Harbor improvement project led by the Corps of Engineers is expected to start later this year.