Environmental Groups Demand Georgia PSC Reconsider Data Center Energy Plan Overreach - CleanTechnica

Environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) are urging the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to reconsider its approval of Georgia Power’s plan to build expensive methane gas plants. The plan, which includes the costly 757-megawatt Plant McIntosh, is projected to increase customer utility bills by about $20 per month and cost ratepayers $50–60 billion over the next 50 years. The groups argue that the PSC’s decision will lock Georgians into decades of pollution and high costs, primarily to support speculative data centers that consume large amounts of power and water. The environmental advocates criticize the PSC’s approval as a form of corporate welfare benefiting executives and shareholders at the expense of consumers. They highlight that the decision was made by two outgoing commissioners and call for the new commissioners to revisit the plan. They also emphasize that Georgia Power does not currently need to procure 10 gigawatts of new resources