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Georgia ranks high for solar power in the South
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Georgia utilities earned high marks this year in an annual report on the state of solar power in the South.
In its "Solar in the Southeast" report, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy notes that Georgia Power ranks fourth out of 14 major regional electricity providers in a key measure: watts of solar electricity produced per customer, or W/C.
As a state, Georgia only falls behind solar powerhouse Florida by that measure.
But the report cites the growth of data centers as a major challenge to the pace of rolling out new solar. That’s by cranking up the growth in demand for energy to heretofore unseen levels which, making carbon-emitting natural gas more appealing to utilities in the short run.
That bore itself out in Georgia Power’s emergency change to its generation mix approved this year.
But the SACE report still forecasts a further doubling of Georgia’s solar generation by 2025 through things like NextEra Energy’s 260-megawatt project in the town of Wadley southwest of Augusta and through more from Georgia Power expected in its next Integrated Resource Plan.
If that projected doubling holds for Georgia Power, that would still mean the company would produce about half as much solar power in 2025 as compared to the capacity at nuclear-powered Plant Vogtle.
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