Georgia Chamber State of Energy Event

The Georgia Chamber Foundation recently hosted a State of Energy event, which brought together top leaders to discuss Georgia’s evolving energy infrastructure, power grid capacity, and sustainability efforts. As part of the event, MEAG Power President & CEO Jim Fuller joined the CEOs of Georgia Power and Oglethorpe Power in a panel discussion.

Here are some key takeaways from his participation in that discussion.

He pointed to the completion of Plant Vogtle Units 3 & 4 when asked what past event he was most proud of that has led to the current state of energy in Georgia. These units will benefit generations to come, especially after the project is paid off and people get to enjoy low-cost, non-emitting power for decades afterwards.

Other points of discussion were the new Pineview solar facility that recently went COD on May 15 (see the Pineview article here), and plan for uprates at Plants Hatch and Vogtle Units 1 & 2, which could add 40 MW of nuclear energy to MEAG Power’s portfolio (see more details in the annual meeting article here).

He noted that one of the biggest challenges facing Georgia is the growth of data centers, including the allocation of costs related to upgrading high-voltage transmission systems to serve these loads.

It’s also an opportunity given that utility systems can spread their fixed costs over a much larger base of energy sales by adding a data center, which can translate into lower rates for residential and commercial customers.

Particular to MEAG Power, he offered that a data center could locate in one community and other communities could still share in the benefits by providing power to the data center, thanks to the Integrated Transmission System (ITS) that covers 90% Georgia. The ITS and the cooperation among its co-owners have become the envy of the U.S. utility industry.

You can watch the full discussion here.