Georgia Power Company 2023 Integrated Resource Plan updated Docket
Synapse supported Sierra Club’s engagement in Georgia Power Company’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) update docket before the Georgia Public Service Commission. Synapse testimony and analysis in this case focused on the Company’s request for approval of new supply side resources, including a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Mississippi Power Company, a PPA with the Santa Rosa Energy Center, and a proposal to construct three dual-fuel combustion turbined (CT) at Plant Yates.
We found that Georgia Power had not properly justified that any of its proposed near-term capacity additions, including the CTs and PPAs, were competitive relative to alternatives. The Company did not conduct a competitive procurement process or evaluate alternative resource options when evaluating these supply side resource options. Both PPAs begin years before Georgia Power needs the power meaning ratepayers will pay for, or bear the risk associated with re-marketing, the power in the years before it is needed to serve load. Additionally, the Company’s own data shows that the Yates CTs will be expensive to build, will not have a firm gas supply, will rely on expensive and dirty oil during peak times, and will be transmission constrained through May 2028. Additionally, the Company’s own analysis shows that it is economic to bring online substantially more battery storage and solar PV than it currently has planned.
We recommend that the Commission not approve all three of the Yates CTs and should instead direct the Company to test the market and procure as much battery storage (paired with solar PV and standalone) as it can. We recommend that the Commission not approve the PPAs prior to when the Company needs the power to serve load. We recommend that the Company evaluate how the proposed greenhouse gas regulations under section 111 of the Clean Air Act would impact its future resource plan, specifically its proposed supply side resource additions. Finally, we recommend that Georgia Power accelerate procurement efforts through All-Source RFPs to evaluate the economics of expanded and accelerated deployment of battery storage and other resource options.