State regulators OK Georgia Power plan for more solar and nuke energy as utility edges away from coal

When I first took office in 1995, coal generation in this state was over 70 percent. Today it’s under 30 percent’

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Georgia Power, the company that lights up metro Atlanta, is looking to make more electrons from nukes and the sun as it edges away from coal. State regulators broadly gave the utility the go-ahead for that vision for the next three years — but not without some debate about who should take on the financial risk.

In a 4-1 vote on Thursday, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved an update to Georgia Power’s 20-year plan that envisions the utility adding on a substantial bit more renewable energy. The plan also OKs Georgia Power spending $99 million on preliminary studies for a possible new nuclear power plant on the Chattahoochee River in Stewart County.

The decision was tough, said Stan Wise, one of members of the elected, all-Republican, five-member body that determines how much people pay to heat up their ovens and turn on their lights.

“When I first took office in 1995, coal generation in this state was over 70 percent. Today it’s under 30 percent,” said Wise. “We can debate the wisdom of the coal exodus but the void has to be replaced with something that is cost-effective, that can maintain that diverse portfolio that we’ve come to take such pride in.”

That’s the question regulators and power companies everywhere struggle with: where will we get electricity, how do we make sure it’s reliable, and how much will it cost? Nuclear power gets dissed because it’s so expensive to build, is freakin’ complex, and prone to delay (as people near Waynesboro have seen). Plus, its byproduct is literally radioactive.

But in the long term, it’s fairly cheap and reliable. There are a million reasons coal plants are closing nationwide and miners are going bankrupt. People hate coal pollution and new environmental rules make coal plants pricier. The low price of natural gas has piqued utilities’ interest. Solar and wind energy are cool, but until batteries can hold power longer, regulators are wary of depending on intermittent sources of power.

Georgia Power, following a national trend, has wound down several coal burners statewide over the last few years. The plan update will see the utility limit spending on some units near Rome and Savannah. Environmental groups want to eventually see those units shut down.

The company will also bring online 1,600 megawatts of new solar and other renewable energy from a mix of small and larger sources in the next few years. For comparison, the expansion of nuclear Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro will make about 2,200 MW of power, which is split among several utilities. In 2019, it’ll be time for another scheduled update to Georgia Power’s 20-year plan.

Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald wasn’t keen with the idea of the utility passing the cost to customers for a potential nuclear plant: “If they’re as sure about the process of another nuclear program in 2025 and beyond, that’s great. But let their investors make the first investment.”

(The company originally asked to spend $175 million for Stewart preliminary studies. Georgia Power, unlike most companies, has a monopoly and a guaranteed profit, in return for robust electricity and tight state oversight of its business and what it charges ratepayers.)

McDonald said he’s not sure if the geology in Stewart County will pan out for a nuke. He hasn’t seen any study about how much water it might take from the water war-torn Chattahoochee. And he does not know where the nuclear waste might go.

McDonald has for years been a vocal pro-solar solon (and is also famous for being an early Donald Trump backer, FWIW.) He pushed to get Georgia Power to get into what was in 2013 considered a big solar investment: 525 MW. But on Thursday he couldn’t convince a majority of his fellow commissioners to go along with a plan for more solar than they did approve — or to delay a decision about charging ratepayers for the Stewart County work. He was the sole vote against the plan update.

Commissioner Tim Echols voted for the plan.

“If we’re going to close coal plants and we’re going to add more renewables, which we should, we have to add more base load,” said Echols, referring to robust, always-on power sources. “And with carbon regulation certain to happen in the future, it needs to be carbon-free nuclear power.”

Wise said that the spending on the potential Stewart County plant is why his colleagues support increasing renewables more than the amount Georgia Power originally proposed: “The sooner the green energy lobby embraces this fact and gets behind nuclear, the faster we can grow renewables in this state,” said Wise.

Indeed, big national green groups are reevaluating their opposition to nuclear. (Update: That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, though the Sierra Club has contested the article.)

he local Sierra Club, meanwhile, applauded the Georgia Power plan.

“We’re very pleased that the PSC and Georgia Power recognize that clean, renewable energy should play a more significant role in our state’s energy future,” said the club’s Georgia director, Ted Terry.