There was a story in the Columbus Ledger last week that puts much of the news from the Golden Dome in sharp perspective.
According to the newspaper, the developers of Project Ruby, the estimated $5.18 billion datacenter project in northeast Muscogee County, have indicated it will require “more electricity than all of Columbus currently uses.” All the residential and commercial users in Columbus currently use a total 550 megawatts of power. Project Ruby is requesting access to up to 600 megawatts by 2034.
Given that this isn’t the only giant data center project being planned in Georgia, it’s not surprising that legislation aimed at protecting consumers from shouldering the costs of this massive increase in power usage has been introduced in both the Senate and House. The Senate version, authored by Republican Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, was the stronger measure, while the House version was more utility-friendly.
To the surprise of no one who’s been through this process, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee replaced the language of the stronger Senate bill with language from the weaker House bill. That version was headed to a vote in the full Senate on Thursday, but Hufstetler introduced a floor amendment that would put his language back in the bill.
Then, in the wink of an eye, the General Assembly’s resolve to protect consumers from skyrocketing electricity bills lurched from more, to less, to nothing at all. When word got out that Hufstetler’s amendment had the support of nearly a dozen Republican senators, Senate leadership stepped in and adjourned that day’s session. Whether the bill, either version, comes back for a vote this year is an open question.
Democrats were quick to pounce, branding the adjournment as a mockery of the idea of making this the “affordability session.”
“This is real affordability legislation in a year where Georgians face higher utility bills, grocery prices and health insurance premiums,” Sen. Elena Parent wrote. “Republicans need to drag themselves back to the Capitol, stop kissing Donald Trump’s ring and pass this bill.”
Another bill which hit the wall last week drew less attention, but its fate is telling. It was sponsored by a Democrat, Rep. Imani Barnes, so it had little chance of passage anyway, but it had bipartisan support.
This bill concerns the small-scale, plug-in devices known as balcony solar or plug-in solar, which are having a big impact in Germany, South Africa and other countries. These units don’t usually replace all the power demands of a home, but they reduce the load — and with that the profits — of electric utilities.
Utah is the only state so far that has legalized the use of these devices, but the legislatures of 26 states and the District of Columbia will be considering bills this year that remove the regulatory roadblocks to their use.
Unlike the data center issue, where Georgia Power objected to the stronger bill but not the weaker one, Georgia Power and EMC Georgia were unequivocally opposed to the plug-in solar bill. Lifting the regulations that apply to larger rooftop solar installations would endanger both consumers and utility personnel, they argued in a House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee hearing.
That hearing was as far as Barnes’ proposal got. Chairman Don Parsons declined to bring the bill to a committee vote. But chances are some states will approve plug-in solar, and if that results in significantly lower electricity bills, the General Assembly will be seeing similar legislation before long.
Both these bills reveal the continuing influence utilities exert under the Golden Dome and the reluctance of legislators to cross them. The demise of both measures means your bills aren’t going down anytime in the immediate future. Affordability didn’t really have a chance in this affordability session.
