Advocates Challenge Georgia Power’s Overbuilt, Flawed Data Center Plan

ATLANTA — Yesterday, environmental groups pushed back on Georgia Power’s defense of its plan to build the most expensive gas plants in the nation.

The Sierra Club, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a response to Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission’s reply to their motion to reconsider Georgia Power’s “Requests for Proposals,” or RFP, which the PSC approved on Dec. 19.

In response, Michael Hawthorne, Campaign Organizing Strategist with the Sierra Club, released the following statement: “Georgia Power fails to justify its massive gas buildout, relying on vague promises that one day all of this fossil fuel generation will be useful. In the meantime, Georgia consumers will be forced to pay for expensive and unnecessary projects like Plant McIntosh. Georgia Power and the PSC disagree on what the load forecast for the state is and what they’re going to do to protect families and businesses from rising energy costs. The only thing they seem to agree on is Georgia Power can do whatever it wants, and Georgians must foot the bill. It’s completely unacceptable: The PSC must hold Georgia Power accountable, require hard data to justify its plan and rehear the RFP.”

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.