As Georgia continues to grow and the energy landscape rapidly evolves, one thing remains constant – we understand the important role we play in serving millions of Georgians and take our commitment to serving them seriously.
The Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process continues to help us ensure we can meet customer needs and we continue to refine and file regular updates with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC). On October 27, we filed the 2023 IRP Update with the Georgia PSC, which sets forth a 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.
Included in filing:
- 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.
2022 Integrated Resource Plan
Approved July 21, 2022, this IRP delivers a comprehensive strategy to both transform Georgia's energy sources and help to ensure that the state's network of transmission lines and grid infrastructure continues to deliver energy to Georgians – both today and in the future.
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.
2022 Rate Request
These requests enables us to continue making critical investments in strengthening and further securing the electric grid, transforming our power generation to include cleaner and more economical energy resources and continue improving the customer experience.
