Georgia Power’s 10 GW Data Center Plan Could Add $20+ to Monthly Bills: What the PSC’s Next Move Means for You

ATLANTA — As Georgia races to become a hub for AI and cloud computing, state regulators are weighing a massive Georgia Power expansion that could reshape both the grid and your monthly bill.

The utility is asking the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve roughly 10,000 megawatts (10 gigawatts) of new power plants and batteries over the next few years, much of it justified by expected demand from energy‑hungry data centers. ^[1]

Analysts for the PSC warn that if commissioners green‑light most of the plan, residential customers could eventually pay about $20 more per month — or even higher — once the projects hit bills late this decade. ^[2]

On December 10 and 12, the PSC will hold key hearings on Georgia Power’s request, followed by a final vote scheduled for December 19 — just days before newly elected commissioners are sworn in. ^[3] As of today, November 26, 2025, that vote remains one of the most consequential decisions for Georgia’s energy future and ratepayers in years.

Key takeaways

Georgia Power wants 10 GW of new capacity to meet soaring demand from large customers, especially data centers. ^[4]
PSC staff say most of that buildout is not backed by firm data center contracts, exposing regular customers to “stranded cost” risks if projects don’t materialize. ^[5]
Internal estimates and public testimony suggest bills could rise by around $20 a month or more for typical households once new plants roll into rates. ^[6]
Georgia Power’s large‑load project pipeline shrank by 6 GW this year as many data centers were canceled or delayed, even as a smaller number of big projects moved ahead. ^[7]
A lame‑duck PSC — including two commissioners just voted out over rising electricity costs — is set to decide the case on December 19. ^[8]

What Georgia Power is asking for

Georgia Power’s application to the PSC seeks approval to add about 10,000 megawatts of new capacity to its system over roughly the next five years. That package includes a mix of: ^[9]

New natural gas‑fired power plants
Additional utility‑scale solar projects
Battery storage installations

The utility argues this buildout is necessary to keep the lights on as Georgia continues to grow, and as large power users — especially AI and cloud data centers — line up to plug into the grid. ^[10]

Georgia is already one of the most attractive states in the Southeast for data centers, thanks to abundant land, a pro‑business regulatory climate and historically lower power prices. Earlier this year, the PSC approved Georgia Power’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which envisioned at least 6,000 MW and up to 8,500 MW of new capacity between 2029 and 2031, partly to serve these large loads. ^[11]

The new 10 GW proposal layers an additional burst of capacity on top of that long‑term plan.

Why watchdogs say your bill could go up

In testimony filed this month, the PSC’s Public Interest Advocacy Staff and outside consultants warned that most of Georgia Power’s requested generation is not supported by signed long‑term contracts under the state’s new “large load” framework. ^[12]

According to that testimony and subsequent reporting:

Only about 1,900 MW of the new generation is backed by executed contracts under the updated large‑load rules.
The rest of the capacity is considered speculative, meant to serve projects that are still in the development pipeline and could be canceled, delayed or scaled back. ^[13]

Staff warn that if these big customers don’t fully materialize, Georgia Power will still seek to recover the cost of those plants — and there is no ironclad guarantee those costs won’t be shifted onto existing residential and small business customers, especially where older contracts fall outside the new tariff guardrails. ^[14]

That’s where the $20‑per‑month figure comes in. Analysis from PSC staff and advocacy groups suggests that if commissioners approve most or all of the 10 GW plan, a typical household could see bills rise by roughly that amount, once the new assets are built and included in rates near the end of this decade. ^[15]

This would be on top of past increases. Georgia Power has implemented multiple rate and surcharge hikes since 2022, and one recent analysis found that overall electricity bills in the state have risen around 40% since 2021, driven in part by cost overruns at Plant Vogtle’s nuclear expansion. ^[16]

The PSC did approve a three‑year base‑rate freeze through 2028, but that doesn’t lock in total bills. Fuel, storm recovery and future generation costs can still be added through separate riders, and AJC reporting notes that customers are unlikely to see data center‑related bill impacts until around 2029 — just after the freeze ends. ^[17]

The data center boom — and the shrinking “large load” pipeline

At the heart of this fight is a simple question: Will enough data centers actually show up to justify building all this new capacity?

A Georgia Power filing reviewed by Utility Dive shows that the company’s pipeline of large‑load economic development projects shrank by a net 6 GW between the second and third quarters of 2025, falling to 50.9 GW. ^[18]

Key details from that filing: ^[19]

14.3 GW of projects exited the pipeline in a single quarter, even as 6.8 GW of new projects entered.
Since a 2023 planning update, 33 data center projects totaling 11,332 MW have been removed.
Roughly a quarter of all data center projects that entered the company’s tracking model have been scrubbed, with several leaving the queue every quarter.

PSC staff testify that the data center segment is “underperforming expectations” due to cancellations and delays — a problem not unique to Georgia. ^[20]

Importantly, that same filing also shows that some very large projects are real and moving ahead:

Georgia Power now counts 28 “committed” large‑load customers with executed service requests, totaling about 11 GW of demand.
18 of those projects have already broken ground, with 10 more pending construction.
Long‑term committed load more than doubled in a single quarter, from about 3.7 GW to over 7.3 GW. ^[21]

In other words, Georgia’s data center future is both big and uncertain — plenty of steel in the ground, but also a track record of projects quietly disappearing before they ever plug in.

What PSC staff recommend instead

Rather than approving the full 10 GW request, PSC staff are urging a scaled, phased approach.

In written testimony summarized by the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution, staff recommend that commissioners: ^[22]

Approve about 3,100 MW of new resources now (roughly one‑third of the request).
Allow up to 4,200 MW more only if certain conditions are met — for example, if firm contracts for large customers materialize or if updated forecasts show the need.
Reject roughly 2,400 MW of the most expensive projects outright, citing cost and construction‑risk concerns.

Staff also raise red flags about Georgia Power’s ability to build such a large portfolio on time and on budget, pointing to Plant Vogtle’s years‑long delays and multi‑billion‑dollar overruns as a cautionary tale. ^[23]

Georgia Power, for its part, disputes the suggestion that its projections are speculative. In a statement to FOX 5 Atlanta, the company said it is working with the PSC to ensure reliable, affordable power as the state grows, and argued that large‑load commitments helped make the recent three‑year base‑rate freeze possible. ^[24]

Politics and public anger are shaping the debate

This is not just a technical docket; it’s a political flashpoint.

Earlier this month, Georgia voters ousted two Republican PSC commissioners in what outside observers described as a backlash against higher electricity costs and the handling of Plant Vogtle and other projects. ^[25]

Yet those same commissioners — whose races centered on rising bills — are still scheduled to vote on Georgia Power’s data center plan on December 19, just days before their Democratic successors are sworn in. The AJC notes that consumer advocates pushed unsuccessfully for a delay, arguing that the newly elected commission should decide such a pivotal case. ^[26]

Beyond Georgia, the stakes are national. A recent analysis from Grid Strategies found that data centers now dominate near‑term electric load growth forecasts, with the five‑year outlook for U.S. demand growing roughly sixfold in just four years. ^[27]

At the same time, communities across North America are increasingly organizing against large data centers over concerns about energy use, water consumption and local impacts — a trend captured in a report on rising “data centre resistance” published today. ^[28]

Legal analysts also note that states from Virginia to Oregon are experimenting with new tariffs, planning rules and even temporary moratoria to manage the strain of these huge loads on regional grids. ^[29]

Georgia’s decision will be watched as one of the first big tests of how far regulators are willing to go to accommodate AI‑driven demand — and at whose expense.

What happens next — and what Georgia Power customers can do

As of November 26, 2025, here’s the timeline:

Today: The PSC’s committees are meeting in Atlanta on energy and administrative affairs, part of a packed late‑year calendar. ^[30]
December 10 & 12: Formal evidentiary hearings on Georgia Power’s capacity request and supplemental resources. ^[31]
December 19: Expected final PSC vote on whether to approve all, part, or none of the 10 GW buildout. ^[32]

For customers, the impacts won’t show up overnight. Staff testimony and prior PSC orders suggest that: ^[33]

Base rates are frozen through 2028, but
Additional surcharges (for fuel, storms and, later, new plants) could still affect monthly bills, and
Data center‑related generation costs are most likely to hit bills around 2029 and beyond.

Possible scenarios

While the final outcome is unknown, a few broad scenarios are on the table:

Full or near‑full approval
- Georgia Power builds close to the full 10 GW package.
- Data centers and large industrial users face more certainty about grid capacity.
- Residential bills likely rise closer to the $20‑plus estimates over time if project costs track current projections. ^[34]
Staff‑style compromise
- The PSC approves a smaller initial build, with additional capacity tied to proven need and firm contracts.
- This could moderate future bill impacts while still preparing the grid for some level of data center growth. ^[35]
Deeper cutbacks
- Commissioners deny large portions of the request or attach strict conditions.
- Ratepayers face lower risk of paying for underused plants, but Georgia may become more selective about which mega‑projects it can support.

How to follow — and influence — the decision

If you’re a Georgia Power customer concerned about your bill, there are a few concrete steps you can take right now:

Track the case dockets. The PSC lists the capacity dockets (Nos. 56298 and 56310) and hearing dates on its website calendar. ^[36]
Submit a public comment. The PSC’s “File an Opinion” and complaint portals allow customers to share their views directly with commissioners before the December 19 vote. ^[37]
Stay tuned to local coverage. Outlets like FOX 5 Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution, GPB and regional papers are publishing new details as filings and testimony roll in. ^[38]

Whatever the outcome next month, Georgia’s data center gamble will influence not just the state’s economy, but also how much you pay to keep the lights on for years to come.