Georgia Power recently filed an update to its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that the company says sets forth a flexible, comprehensive plan to support the state’s extraordinary economic growth and continue providing clean, safe, reliable, and affordable power for customers.
Georgia, long recognized as a top state in the country in which to do business, is attracting extraordinary customer growth. Current energy projections for the state now reflect energy growth of approximately 6,600 MW through 2030, up from approximately 400 MW previously forecasted in January 2022.
Building upon the plan approved in its 2022 IRP, the company’s 2023 IRP Update seeks approval to deploy additional generation resources to reliably and economically support Georgia’s rapidly growing energy needs. These resources include expansion of renewable energy resources, battery energy storage systems (BESS), new and expanded distributed energy resources (DER), demand response programs, as well as new and existing conventional power plants.
“Georgia has continued to experience rapid economic growth since the filing of our IRP in early 2022,” said Kim Greene, chairman, president, and CEO of Georgia Power. “Many businesses coming to the state are bringing large electrical demands at both a record scale and velocity. It’s an exciting time to have the privilege to serve this great state, and this IRP Update outlines how Georgia Power can best continue supporting that historic growth while continuing to provide our customers with the clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy they expect and deserve.”
If approved, this plan will enable the company to deploy new generation resources to meet Georgia’s increased energy demand. Additionally, the company is seeking approval of the transmission infrastructure necessary to support these new generation resources to help ensure the continued reliability and resiliency of Georgia’s electric system. Specifically, today’s filing includes the following requests:
- Certification of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Mississippi Power.
- Certification of a PPA with Santa Rosa Energy Center LLC for power from an existing natural gas-fired combined cycle generating asset located in Pace, Florida.
- Expansion of the Company’s implementation of BESS, including BESS co-located with existing solar.
- Construction of new solar resources to be co-located with new BESS.
- Construction of new simple-cycle combustion turbines at Georgia Power’s Plant Yates. The company is proposing to locate the new units at Plant Yates to leverage its current infrastructure and recognize operational efficiencies.
- Addition of new and expanded DER and demand response programs.
- Acquisition of an additional ownership interest in an existing generation asset within the Southern Company footprint.
Georgia Power expects existing and new customers to recognize substantial economic benefits from this energy usage growth, which helps offset and balance the cost of investments needed to serve Georgia’s growing energy needs.
Consistent with the plan set forth in the company’s 2022 IRP, the company remains committed to the economic transition to cleaner resources. Based on the company’s energy expansion plan in the 2023 IRP Update, the company anticipates adding a total of approximately 10,000 MW of new renewable resources by 2035, which is nearly double the 6,000 MW projected in the 2022 IRP. Notably, the company’s continued expansion of BESS and DER resources, such as those proposed in the 2023 IRP Update, are essential to ensuring that the grid remains reliable and resilient while the company continues adding renewable resources.
2022 IRP Programs Underway
Georgia Power continues to implement the programs approved in the 2022 IRP and is in the process of procuring new renewable energy through competitive requests for proposal (RFP) processes, including distributed generation and utility scale generation resources. In 2024, the company plans to issue a 500 MW energy storage system RFP, with resources anticipated to be online by the end of 2028, as well as an “all-source” RFP to address capacity needs for the 2029 through 2031 period.
In the 2022 IRP, the Georgia PSC provisionally authorized Georgia Power to develop, own, and operate the 265 MW McGrau Ford BESS project. The company continues to pursue the development of this facility and plans to seek final approval from the Georgia PSC by the end of 2024, with commercial operation of the facility projected by the end of 2026.
In addition to new generation resources, the 2022 IRP also included multiple innovative customer programs designed to promote reliability and resiliency, such as the DER Customer Program. The DER Customer Program enables participating customers to subscribe to a resiliency service provided by company-owned, operated and maintained DER.
Following the 2022 IRP proceeding, Georgia Power worked with Georgia PSC Staff and intervenors to develop and finalize the DER Customer Program tariffs, which were approved in January 2023. Since that time, the company has engaged with customers who are interested in participating in the program. The company is currently pursuing more than two dozen project leads, including large-scale customer opportunities. If successful, these opportunities could provide capacity up to the 250 MW program limit for the benefit of retail customers.
For more information about the IRP process, and to learn how Georgia Power is investing in Georgia’s energy future, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com/Future.
Georgia Power
