Although the Georgia General Assembly doesn’t officially convene until 10:00 am on the second Monday in January, the festivities always begin the night before at the annual Wild Hog Supper. This year marked the 63rd Annual Wild Hog Supper hosted by Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper (R) in support of the Feeding Georgia food bank network. Elected officials, lobbyists, and other pork enthusiasts joined for one last meal before the legislative session begins.
This session will be ‘fast & furious’ as both Majority Leaders Senator Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) & Representative Chuck Efstration (R-Mulberry) came together in agreement for a legislative calendar (below) that sets a Friday, March 6 Crossover Day deadline and a Sine Die adjournment date of Thursday, April 2 - just in time for Spring Break and for the Masters.
One of the leading issues facing both chambers is the varying opinions on tax cuts. Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R-Jackson) - who’s running for Governor - appointed a special committee this summer to examine how legislators could eliminate Georgia’s income tax. We’ve also seen comments from Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) emphasizing his desire to take a deeper look at Georgia’s property tax burdens.
Another prominent tight rope issue that will certainly be influenced by primary politics is how legislators will address a rapidly swelling data center industry. Currently, Georgia is second in the world in data center development ($40B invested in the first seven months of 2025), and sentiment is reaching a fever pitch throughout Metro Atlanta and out in Georgia’s rural hinterlands.
Specific to renewable energy, SREA is currently tracking these carryover bills:
- House Bill 169, sponsored by Rep. Chas Cannon (R-Moultrie), is a measure aimed at removing solar as a bona fide use for Georgia's Conservation Use Valuation Assessments. This bill passed the House, and is now in Senate Finance.
- House Bill 249, sponsored by Rep. Robert Dickey (R-Musella), is more regulation on top of our 2024 decommissioning bill, HB 300. There was not a lot of appetite for this measure last year, and we don’t believe it will get overwhelming momentum. HB 249 is in the House Energy Committee.
- House Bill 320, sponsored by Rep. Trey Kelley (R-Cedartown), is a bill aimed at solar panel recycling. The author has Solarcycle and adjacent Q-Cells in his district and this was likely an ask of theirs. SREA is working with the author and a few industry reps to see if we can revise this bill to a point where industry can support it. This bill is currently in the House Natural Resources Committee.
- Senate Bill 34, sponsored by Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome), seeks to amend utility regulations to prevent electric utilities from spreading the costs of serving large commercial data centers across all ratepayers. Specifically, SB 34 prohibits electric utilities from including certain costs related to providing electric services to commercial data centers in their general rates, unless those costs are either charged exclusively to the data centers themselves or prorated based on electric demand.
We also expect Senator Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) to drop a bill focused on data center power generation colocation and emergency events in the coming days. We will share when we get an associated bill number.
SREA Georgia Director Taylor Schindler was fortunate to attend a handful of receptions for various legislative leaders last week, including the Senate Republican Caucus, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper & both House & Senate Agriculture Chairmen, and a multi-member House reception supporting chairmen who often receive SREA’s legislation.
SREA is working to contribute to build the organization’s presence amongst legislators and fundraisers to further elevate our membership in the eyes of decision makers. As always, if you have any questions, or concerns please do not hesitate to
