On July 15, the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) approved the Stipulation for Georgia Power Company’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) at their bi-monthly administrative session.

The Southern Renewable Energy Association (SREA) signed the Stipulation, along with numerous other intervenors, including the Advanced Power Alliance, Capital Good Fund, Georgia Association of Manufacturers, Georgia Solar Energy Industries Association, United States Department of Defense, and Walmart. The Commission approved the IRP Stipulation unanimously without any motions or amendments from the Commissioners.

The Stipulation includes numerous terms that are positive outcomes for SREA members, including key wins for transmission and the procurement of renewable energy resources. The transmission wins include the following items:

• New Transmission in Georgia: Approval of Georgia Power’s Strategic Transmission plan included in the IRP, including numerous new 500 kV transmission lines to improve power transfer from South Georgia to North Georgia.
• GETs: Georgia Power will adopt a formal process to evaluate Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) as potential solutions for all major Georgia Power transmission projects and will include in the 2028 IRP a report on the planning assumptions, criteria, and outcomes associated with its GETs evaluations.
• Non-wires Alternatives: Georgia Power will continue to incorporate Non-Wires Alternatives screening into its standard project development process. If future BESS applications, configurations, and operations demonstrate that BESS can be deployed reliably and economically as transmission solutions, Georgia Power will continue to consider this technology as a solution.
• Commitment to Evaluate Regional Transmission in the Next IRP: Georgia Power will continue to work through the existing Southeastern Regional Transmission Planning (SERTP) process as part of its 2028 IRP Transmission Plan. Through this process, Georgia Power will identify the regional transmission expansion projects evaluated through calendar year 2027 and will identify the economic costs and benefits of each.

 The renewable energy procurement wins include the following items:

• New Utility Scale Renewable Energy Request for Proposals: Georgia Power’s enhanced Utility Scale Renewable Resource Request for Proposals (US RFP) process was approved, and the company was authorized to procure energy from up to 1,000 MW of new Utility Scale renewable energy resources. In addition, Georgia Power will be allowed to procure up to 3,000 MW of new Utility Scale renewable energy resources through US RFPs to meet the needs of subscribing customers. The Stipulating Parties agree that any unfulfilled megawatts in the RFPs will be carried over to future US RFPs.
• Acceleration of the Customer Identified Resources program in the CARES 2025 RFP: The Company's proposed enhancements to the CARES Utility Scale Program, including the option to procure from customer-identified renewable resources, was approved. The customer-identified renewable resource option will begin in Phase 2 of the CARES 2025 RFP and multiple customers will be allowed to bring forward a single customer-identified resource for procurement.
• A formal process for considering and potentially incorporating the Staff’s proposed changes to the Renewable Integration Study prior to the next IRP to more accurately reflect the flexibility of the system and its ability to address solar variability (i.e., to not unfairly penalize solar): Georgia Power shall be allowed to use the updated Renewable Integration Study (RIS) for planning purposes. Georgia Power and GPSC staff will meet prior to the next RFP to determine how the specific Integration Costs and Flex Credits will be determined using the results of the 2024 RIS. Prior to December 31, 2025, Georgia Power and GPSC staff will review and discuss Public Interest Advocacy staff's suggested changes to the RIS. After this meeting, the parties will file a compliance filing to provide the timeline for completion of the RIS prior to the next IRP and the process to be used by Georgia Power to determine the integration costs and the Flex Credit for each procurement. This filing will also address the methodology for calculating the RIS and any areas of disagreement between the Georgia Public Service Commission staff and the Georgia Power.

Georgia is looking at unprecedented economic growth, and with that comes unprecedented electricity load growth. SREA believes these transmission and renewable energy procurement wins are crucial to Georgia having the ability to meet their customers' energy needs and to making some much needed enhancements to the grid.