Senate committee holds hearing on bill to require large electric customers to cover infrastructure costs

The Georgia Senate Regulated Industries Committee held an extended hearing on a proposed substitute (LC 560546s) that would require large electric customers — those meeting a 100‑megawatt threshold used by the Public Service Commission — to bear infrastructure and incremental costs rather than passing those costs to residential customers. The hearing included testimony from Public Service Commission staff, the Data Center Coalition and Georgia Power. No committee vote was taken on the data‑center/large‑load bill at this session.

Senator Huffstetler, the bill's author, said the measure seeks to "protect homeowners and small businesses" from bearing capital costs that large customers would otherwise shift to other ratepayers. The substitute replaces the phrase "data centers" with "large load customers" (100 megawatts or greater) to make the bill end‑use neutral; the author said he is willing to refine the language and review related House language.

Tom Bond, appearing for PSC Chairman Jason Shaw, described the PSC's approach: the commission has adopted rules and a tariff for large load customers that include minimum bills, longer contract terms, collateral requirements and draft contract review. Bond cautioned that legislating detailed rate‑making could reduce the commission's flexibility in a fast‑changing industry and have unintended consequences.

Kara Boendale (Data Center Coalition), director of state policy, said the coalition "agrees with the bill intent" and supports an end‑use neutral framework that ensures large load customers cover infrastructure upgrades and demand charges; she noted members include major hyperscalers.

Aaron Mitchell, senior vice president for strategic growth at Georgia Power, told the committee the company is already contracting to recover incremental costs from large customers through minimum bills, collateral and long contracts. Mitchell said Georgia Power's recent actions and commission orders have helped freeze base rates for three years and are delivering customer benefits, and he warned that codifying rate‑making could "handcuff" the PSC and utilities.

Committee members asked detailed questions about the scale of 100 megawatts, who currently meets the threshold, collection and enforcement of termination amounts (letters of credit, parent guarantees, surety bonds), possible effects on economic development and how EMCs/municipal utilities fit into the picture. Witnesses confirmed the tariff and order process require Georgia Power to file draft contracts and supporting revenue calculations with PSC staff for review and that the tariff applies to customers of 100 MW or more under PSC jurisdiction, while some data centers served by EMCs or municipalities may be outside PSC regulation.

The chair closed the hearing, invited additional written information, and scheduled further committee consideration; no vote was taken at this meeting.

(Reporting note: quotations and attributions are from witness testimony and committee discussion.)