Georgia Power seeks increased energy purchases, new construction | Plus

They also answered questions from commissioners, the commission’s Public Interest Advocacy staff, and stakeholders ranging from clean energy groups to Walmart to the Department of Defense. 

“Talk with me about why I should have any confidence whatsoever in these projections when the 2022 projections were so off?” Commissioner Tricia Pridemore asked the company’s witnesses.

They replied that the new request is based on real energy needs of new customers, not economic modeling. The forecasts used in 2022, they said, were sound at the time but did not predict the recent, rapid business growth.

“It’s not just a math exercise,” Jeffrey Grubb, Georgia Power’s director of resource planning, said. “It’s based on facts. It’s tangible projects.”

Still, commissioners, staff and interveners questioned not just the forecasts but Georgia Power’s choice of energy sources and the utility’s assertion that the changes would drive power rates down, not increase them. That’s after four rate increases have hit Georgia Power customers’ bills in the past year.

During the public comment portion of the hearings, a group of more than a dozen high school and college students urged the commission to reject the use of fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change.

“The generation of energy…