Energy georgia power: a concise orientation before we get practical.
Energy georgia power: Quick notes
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Many corporations have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but when it comes to energy generation, they have struggled to meet those goals because they have to get power from the grid. Utilities and regulators largely determine how that energy is generated, and most still use fossil fuel sources like coal and natural gas alongside renewable energy.
Now, Georgia’s largest utility, Georgia Power, is launching a new Customer-Identified Resource program that aims to change that by letting companies propose and fund their own clean energy projects. It passed with bipartisan support from the state’s public service commissioners on April 7, and is expected to open by this summer.
“It provides an opportunity for the first time for these customers to be able to identify and bring projects to Georgia Power,” said Priya Barua, a senior director of Utility Partnerships and Innovation at the Corporate Energy Buyers Association, or CEBA. She worked with the utility and other stakeholders on developing the new initiative.
Companies with emissions-reduction targets, like CEBA’s members, are often interested in building their own clean energy projects to help meet climate goals. Meta, for instance, has built solar fields in Georgia to help power its data center complex in Social Circle. But that complex gets its additional energy from an electric membership cooperative, not Georgia Power.
Prior to this new program, there hasn’t been a mechanism for Georgia Power customers to bring similar projects to that utility’s grid. In fact, Hyundai purchased renewable energy credits from solar fields in Texas to offset the energy use at its plant near Savannah. Under the new program, Georgia Power customers will be able to build clean energy projects within the state. They can opt to fund clean energy projects that don’t get chosen during the utility’s regular bid process, or develop their own.
“The program allows multiple customers to be able to bring forward a project together, which really opens this program up to a broader range of small and medium sized commercial and industrial customers,” Barua said.
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Supporters hope the program can be a model for other utilities around the country. Georgia already ranks eighth in the country for solar energy capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, but proponents of renewable energy have long argued the state could be adding more solar more quickly. Those arguments have gotten louder in recent years as Georgia Power has requested and received approval for large amounts of new energy generation to serve growing demand the utility expects to see, mostly from data centers. The utility is planning to generate most of that new energy from natural gas. Environmental and consumer advocates have argued that some or all of the projected demand can be met with renewables and efficiency programs instead.
This program, Barua said, could help cover the new demand the utility is predicting.
“It just accelerates the clean energy projects coming to the system, which would then negate the need for natural gas and other types of generation resources down the road,” she said.
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