This year’s annual meeting once again provided Participants with an opportunity to learn valuable insights as well as connect with peers from across the state. The conference had a few extra flourishes, as MEAG Power celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Jim Fuller, MEAG Power President and CEO, kicked off the General Session by taking a historical look at the last 50 years of operations, as well as a view to the future. Among other data points, he noted that future financing levels are predicted to be relatively minimal compared to the last 15 years, while projected revenues are predicted to grow considerably through 2035.

He gave an update on the Pineview solar project, commenting that all solar panels have been delivered to the site and testing is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2025. The facility is expected to go into commercial operation in 2026.

Also, in celebration of the 50^th anniversary, he held a conversation with several founding members of MEAG, thanks to the help of AI. The technology enabled photos of these executives to speak, sharing their perspective on the founding of the organization, using quotes from past company publications. You can see an example here of Frank Olson, former MEAG Power Board member and CEO, speaking about the reasons why MEAG was created.

Scott Corwin, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), gave a timely look at current issues in public power. The APPA, which is celebrating its 85^th anniversary this year, is focusing its 2025 advocacy on affordability and reliability. This includes reliable power supply, grid security, tax exempt financing and infrastructure, elective payment tax credits, and permitting reform. Additionally, he shared that the APPA is offering a guide to utility operational excellence, which can be found at www.PublicPower.org/OperationalExcellence.

Next, Peter Kelly-Detwiler, a noted energy expert, gave an informative look at data center trends and what developers are looking for when they approach municipalities with offers to build new sites. The availability of reliable, high-quality energy is top of mind with data center owners, as is a short time to market in the race to serve growing AI demands.

Dana Peterson, the Chief Economist from the Conference Board, gave her perspective on where the economy is headed. Her main takeaways were that the U.S. economy entered 2025 on strong footing and the underlying economy remains robust. Uncertainty, geopolitics, and domestic policies are generating volatility, with slower economic activity expected in the second half of 2025, but a recession remains unlikely and growth should pick back up in 2026.

Concurrent sessions at the annual meeting included an update on legislative activities in Washington, D.C. from Rob Talley, President of Talley & Associates, who advocate on behalf of MEAG Power and the Participants. His group is focused on budget reconciliation implementation, permitting reform, budget sequestration, and regulatory policy actions in 2025.

Kevin Stengel, Senior Originator at ACES, MEAG Power’s energy trading partner, led a session on renewable energy credits. These credits are a certificate that allows the owner to claim renewable energy attributes from a renewable energy source. He gave a broad overview of the tax credits, as well as a specific view of using these credits for the Pineview solar project.

The third concurrent session offered best practices for utility management, led by ECG’s Director of Analytical Services, Chau Nguyen. He focused on operations including generation, transmission and distribution planning, infrastructure, technology and staff planning, as well as rate design and other finance issues.

During the Annual Meeting, Participant voting delegates re-elected Larry Vickery, former General Manager (retired) of Calhoun Utilities, Patrick Bowie, City Manager of LaGrange, and Eric Wilson, Mayor of Forsyth, to three-year terms on the MEAG Power Board.

At the Tuesday evening event, Mr. Fuller and MEAG Power senior management awarded President’s Awards to Tina Atchison, Manager of Power Supply Planning, Sean Buckingham, Land Services Manager, and Kurt Smithberger, Principal Accountant. This award recognizes MEAG Power employees for exceptional service and dedication to MEAG Power and the Participant communities.

One of the ways MEAG Power supports Participants is through advocacy on energy-related issues that could potentially affect the cost or reliability of wholesale power. MEAG Power partners with industry and trade associations to monitor legislation and meet with state and federal government legislators, committees and/or agencies, providing a unified voice for Participants’ interests.

It was in that spirit that members of the MEAG Power staff, Board and Government Affairs Committee made their annual advocacy trip to Washington, D.C., at the end of April. The timing of the trip and the focus of the Committee’s messaging was tailored to the federal budget legislation that was being developed.

At the time, Congress was working on a tax reform bill through the budget reconciliation process that had several aspects of interest to MEAG Power and the Participants:

• Preservation of tax-exempt financing
• Support for elective pay and certain (nuclear) energy tax provisions
• Preservation of federal Build America Bond support payments

During the trip, the Committee members met with Senator Jon Ossoff, Representatives Rick Allen, Buddy Carter, Andrew Clyde, Mike Collins, Barry Loudermilk, Lucy McBath, Rich McCormick and Austin Scott, as well as staff members of several other offices. The Congressmembers learned firsthand about the vital interests of the Participant communities that could be impacted by the budget legislation.

Following to the visit, Congress continued to work on the legislation, which it eventually passed. On July 4, H.R. 1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act bill, was signed into law. In the end, public power fared relatively well given the possible outcomes of the bill negotiations

Key aspects of the law include:

• Tax-exempt financing was kept intact.
• Elective pay authority also was not changed.
• Clean energy tax credits are maintained for nuclear (existing and future), hydropower and geothermal facilities, though they are subject to a phaseout schedule that begins in 2033.
• Investment Tax Credits and Production Tax Credits for wind and solar projects were significantly diminished.
  • Projects that begin construction within 12 months can get 100% credit with no “Placed in Service” deadline, though a subsequent Executive Order directs the Treasury Department to significantly narrow the definition of “begin construction” to limit the availability of tax credits.
  • Projects beginning after 12 months must be placed in service by December 31, 2027.

Other energy-related outcomes from the final budget include:

• Tax credits for the purchase of new and used EVs are terminated, as are residential clean energy credits after 2025 and energy efficient home improvement credits.
• “Prohibited foreign entities” are prevented from benefiting from a range of energy tax credits, including those for clean electricity and advanced manufacturing.

Rob Talley, President of Talley & Associates, who advocates on behalf of MEAG Power and the Participants, spoke about the bill and its aftermath in a concurrent session at the recent MEAG Power Annual Meeting. He noted that passage of H.R. 1 marks the end of one process and the start of another – regulatory implementation and any necessary corrections that need to be made to the law.

Also, as relates to PAYGO budget sequestration, spending related to H.R. 1 could trigger additional discretionary spending cuts, requiring more legislative action before the end of the year to keep intact the Build America Bond support payments. So, while the efforts of the MEAG Power Government Affairs staff and Board Government Affairs Committee produced many positive outcomes in the passed legislation, their important work continues.

It’s that time of year again when the dog days of summer offer little respite from the heat, yet we’ve also entered into the hurricane season. Both extreme temperature and storm-related weather events can trigger energy emergency alerts (EEAs), which occur when a region’s power grid nears a shortage of electricity.

These alerts are categorized by severity (e.g., CSO Watch or Warning, EEA-1, EEA-2, EEA-3), and can result in a range of actions needed from power suppliers, including local utilities – everything from voluntary conservation requests to mandatory load shedding. You can read more about the different levels here.

In 2023, we had three Conservative System Operations (CSO) watches and four warnings due to high temperatures and storms. That number grew to three watches and eight warnings in 2024, including two cold temperature events and hurricanes Debby, Francine and Helene. Helene was the most destructive storm to hit MEAG Power’s territories in its history, with sustained winds of 140 mph and heavy rainfall causing power outages, broken transmission poles, trees hanging on transmission wires and significant debris.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts a 50% chance of an above-normal hurricane season in 2025, with 13 to 18 named storms. This includes 2-5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher).

Add in the rise in demand for 24/7 electricity from economic growth, data centers and electrification, and it is imperative that public power utilities stay up to date in their emergency and manual load shed preparedness.

That’s why MEAG Power offers both summer and winter energy emergency alert drills – to help Participants stay prepared for potential emergencies. The most recent training in May included exercises that involved simulations of a CSO Warning, EEA-2, EEA-3 and two manual load sheds, where Participants practiced what to do in each scenario.

The next scheduled training is December 3, 2025.

To learn more about the MEAG Power emergency training, reach out to your regional manager.

Lights, camera, action! Several current and former Board members and mayors pitched in to help us create a video to celebrate our 50th anniversary. It’s not just about the past, however. The mission and work of MEAG Power continues on as we endeavor to serve our Participants for the next 50 years.

Click here to watch the video.

According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the elimination of tax exemption would raise borrowing costs by a projected $833 billion between 2026 and 2035, a cost that would be passed onto taxpayers and lead to a $6,555 tax and rate increase for each American household over the next decade.

We’re working with our industry and government partners to educate Congress on the important role these bonds have played in public power communities in Georgia and across the country. Tax-exempt bonds have enabled economic development and raised standards of living to millions, thanks to their low cost of capital and risk profile.

It was a $450 million in tax-exempt bond offerings in 1977 that enabled MEAG Power to purchase its first ownership stake in Plants Vogtle, Hatch, Wansley and Sherer, starting us on the path to delivery of reliable, affordable wholesale power to Participant communities. Subsequent tax-exempt bonds allowed us to acquire our other generation and transmission assets. To say tax-exempt financing has played an important role in the growth and prosperity of our 49 Participant communities across Georgia is an understatement.

We will continue to monitor this issue closely. We may call on your voices as representatives of our Participant communities to help advocate for keeping this vital form of financing for America’s towns and cities.

GMA and Georgia Trend look at enhanced livability and economic vitality as the primary award criteria. Hogansville and Thomaston exhibited excellence in civic engagement, innovative problem-solving, inclusivity, cross-sector collaboration, and the development of sustainable, long-term community initiatives.

Hogansville

In Hogansville, the restoration of the Royal Theater, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been a catalyst for downtown revitalization. It’s providing new opportunities for cultural engagement and economic growth.

Constructed in 1937, the Royal was once the largest movie theater north of Columbus, with nearly 900 seats. After years of having served as City Hall, Hogansville set about restoring the theater to its original purpose in 2018, as part of a Downtown Master Plan. The Royal reopened in late 2024.

Hogansville Mayor Jake Ayers commented, “There’s something about taking these old buildings that are falling apart and bringing them back that is so inspiring.”

Thomaston

The Visionary Cities Award celebrated the Pathways Internship Program in Thomaston for its ability to help attract graduates to a role in public service, especially key administrative and public safety positions. The program provides an 8-week paid internship and a college-level work-study opportunity to high school, college and graduate students.

The aim of Pathways is to prepare local students for civic leadership by giving them exposure to various departments within the municipality, fostering tomorrow’s decision-makers, problem solvers, and change agents in the community. Now in its second year, applications for the program jumped from 30 in its first year to more than 90.

“For us it’s all about growing our workforce and cultivating civic engagement at the grassroots level,” said Danielle Jefferson, human resources director for Thomaston.

Previous Participant Visionary City winners include Covington in 2024, Camilla, LaGrange and Norcross in 2023, Acworth, Covington, Lawrenceville and Moultrie in 2022, Douglas and Griffin in 2021, and Adel, Hogansville, Marietta and Thomasville in 2020.

MEAG Power was born out of the desire of the Power Section members of the Georgia Municipal Association, known as the Electric Cities, to better control their energy future at a time when load growth was outpacing available generation and they were dependent on a single private utility for supply of increasingly costly electricity.

The opportunity arose in 1974 for public power organizations in Georgia to acquire electricity directly from Plants Hatch and Vogtle, new nuclear projects that were in development. This required the creation of a legal Authority to function as an electric utility that could buy shares of ownership in the plants and supply the power to the members.

Once created, 47 of the 51 qualifying Electric Cities signed long-term power sales agreements with the Authority, with the city of Oxford joining in 1986 and Acworth joining in 2002.

Today, MEAG Power is recognized as a leading joint action agency in the U.S., with a diverse, clean energy portfolio – delivering, on average, 65% emissions-free energy since 2016 – that compares favorably with both state and national averages. It has 2,300 MW of total capacity from nuclear, natural gas and coal resources, with its first solar initiative under construction, and manages 398 MW of hydro capacity on behalf of the Participants. MEAG Power also owns 1,300 miles of high voltage transmission, more than 210 substations, and is a co-owner of the Integrated Transmission System (ITS), a 17,800-mile transmission network covering 90% of Georgia.

Recently, both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly recognized and commended MEAG Power upon the occasion of the 50th anniversary, celebrating its enduring contributions to the Participant communities it serves and the State of Georgia as a whole.

Our success in fulfilling this mission is a testament to the dedication and hard work of MEAG Power’s Board members and employees throughout the years, and the trust and support of our Participants. We thank the Participants for their long-held partnerships, and we look forward to continuing to serve their needs for many years to come.

Steve was a trusted and valued member of MEAG Power’s Board, having been an integral part of many important decisions that were made over the years. His focus on the organization’s mission to deliver reliable, affordable power to the Participant communities never wavered.

Valedictorian of his graduating class at Crisp County High School, Steve earned a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech before going to work for Duke Power’s nuclear plant design group. He then worked in Georgia Power’s substation engineering department before joining the Crisp County Power Commission in 1977 as an engineer.

He became General Manager of the Crisp County Power Commission in 1992, and served in that capacity until his retirement in 2020. In addition to serving on MEAG Power’s Board, Steve was a former board member of ECG, a member of the Cordele/Crisp Chamber Board of Directors, a member and past President of the Cordele Lions Club, and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Public Power Association (APPA). In 2022, Steve received the prestigious James D. Donovan Achievement Award from the APPA, which recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the electric utility industry and to public power.

MEAG Power is grateful for his many contributions and celebrates the lasting impact he has had on our organization.