Georgia Public Service Commission approves shockingly high contract price for biomass energy

Sep 17

ATLANTA — Today the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to approve three contracts to burn woody biomass for energy that will result in several billions of dollars in cost overruns, impacting Georgia Power Customers’ bills for decades.

Biomass energy is the process of burning wood for power. The biomass industry claims this is clean energy, but burning forests for electricity releases more climate-warming pollution than burning coal, all while degrading Southern forests and harming nearby communities.

One of the three contracts is for Altamaha Green Energy LLC to build a facility in Wayne County. The new facility will provide 70 MW of capacity for a breathtaking price tag of more than three times its economic value to billpayers. An independent evaluator said the contract is not in the best financial interest of billpayers and “…it would be beneficial to GPC ratepayers if the developer chose to terminate the [agreement].” Georgia Power prevented the final cost from being publicly released by classifying it as a trade secret. The other two contracts are for existing International Paper facilities.

The PSC approved this contract because commissioners claimed it will support Georgia’s forest industry and economic development, although the purported impact does not come close to offsetting the devastatingly high cost to customers. Today’s decision will result in Georgia Power’s residential and small business customers subsidizing a dirty, expensive, and harmful industry.

“It is unconscionable that commissioners would demand Georgia Power customers subsidize a dirty, expensive industry when too many of them are struggling to pay rising energy bills,” said Codi Norred, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light. “It’s clear the commission has no intention of protecting customers. They have made their priorities plain: grant Georgia Power’s request no matter the cost to customers.”

Commissioners directed Georgia Power to procure biomass-generated energy as part of Georgia Power’s 2022 Integrated Resource Plan, a process that happens typically once every three years.

“Whether it’s burning wood for energy or manufacturing wood pellets to ship overseas, every stage of the biomass industry harms the environment and nearby communities,” said Aradhana Chandra, an associate attorney in SELC’s Georgia office. “With today’s decision, the commission has just guaranteed that residents of Wayne County will have to endure harms from this dirty industry for decades to come.”

Before today’s vote, residential customers were already experiencing a series of bill hikes. Over two years, the average Georgia Power residential bill will jump $44 a month, including $16 to pay for spikes in methane gas and coal costs.

Biomass has also proved an unreliable energy source for Georgia Power’s customers. At the peak of Winter Storm Elliot in Dec. 2022 nearly 90 percent of Georgia Power’s biomass power was offline. The biomass contracts approved today are for nearly 80 MW of energy for Georgia Power customers. The Altamaha contract term is 30 years, and the International Paper contracts are 10.

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Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that inspires and equips communities of faith to organize, implement practical climate solutions, and advocate across Georgia on issues of climate change, environmental justice, and community resilience. An affiliate of the national Interfaith Power and Light movement, GIPL envisions a Georgia where all people can flourish in a healthy environment, a stable climate, and resilient communities.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 180, including 90 attorneys, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit southernenvironment.org