The Georgia Public Service Commission will hold its Administrative Session as well as a special public forum in Savannah on Sept. 15.
At the public forum, are residents will have the opportunity to address the Commission, which serves as the regulatory body for the state’s utilities, with any comments or concerns. Each participant will be limited to three minutes. The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run until noon at the Chatham County Administrative Building, 124 Bull St. in Savannah.
The change of scenery for the PSC comes as conversations ramp up in southeast Georgia about data center development. In July, OpenAI announced the state’s current largest data center project in Effingham County, where the company plans to build a 1,400-acre data center campus, dubbed Project Camellia. In nearby Statesboro, the city council also recently approved rezoning to allow for a data center project, while Bulloch County maintains a moratorium.
The suggestion to hold a session in the southern part of the state was proposed by Commissioner Alicia Johnson, who lives in Savannah.
“Coastal Georgia is experiencing tremendous growth,” Johnson said. “It’s facing consequential decisions about energy, infrastructure, affordability, resilience, and our economic future. The people who live, work, raise families, and build businesses here deserve a meaningful opportunity to engage directly with the Commission making decisions that affect their monthly bills and their communities.”
Chairman Jason Shaw, who lives in Lakeland, said he embraces the idea.
“During the public comments portion of our meetings, I’m always impressed by the number of people who drive from the four corners of our state, just to offer their opinion,” Shaw said. “As someone who drives to Atlanta weekly from South Georgia, I know the effort it takes. I’m glad the PSC will be driving to the people for a change.”
The Administrative Session and forum will be simulcast in the Atlanta hearing room for anyone who would like to watch in the Commission’s usual venue. Those viewing from Atlanta will not be able to participate in the forum. Like all meetings of the PSC, the session and forum will be live streamed on the Commission’s YouTube page.
“This is a statewide position, and we all have to live with these power plants that are being built,” PSC Commissioner Peter Hubbard said. “I do think it is helpful to get outside of Atlanta … to try and open up the Public Service Commission a bit more and demystify what it does.”
Also, Hubbard will attend a data center town hall the day before at the Mars Theater at 106 S Laurel St. in Springfield on Sept. 14. Georgia Conservation Voters, a nonprofit that advocates for conservation-minded policies, is hosting the forum, along with Coastal Georgia nonprofit, One Hundred Miles, which begins at 6 p.m.
The town hall will share information about Project Camellia, covering “what we know and what we still need to know, about how large data center projects could affect electricity bills, energy infrastructure, water resources, and our communities.”
More information can be found at: https://secure.ngpvan.com/hzVCuJIykkCdiz-jtj2ZRQ2
What is the Public Service Commission?
The Georgia PSC is a five-member elected state regulatory agency that oversees public utilities like electricity, natural gas and telecommunications in Georgia.
The PSC regulates the rates charged and the services provided by most state, investor-owned utilities operating in Georgia. The PSC doesn’t set rates for municipally-owned electric and gas utilities or electric membership corporations (EMCs).
The PSC recently reviewed and approved the contract between OpenAI and Georgia Power, for the utility company to provide 3.2 gigawatts of power for OpenAI’s future data center campus in Effingham County.
This contract approval comes after the PSC unanimously voted to approve Georgia Power’s request to add nearly 10 gigawatts of new power generation capacity, with about 80% of that capacity to support expanding data center demand.
However, the commission has also approved some measures in an attempt to protect ratepayers from bearing the costs of data center energy usage, including freezing Georgia Power base rates through 2028.
Two PSC seats are up for election this November.
Lucille Lannigan is a growth and development reporter for Morris Multimedia.