Georgia approves first-of-its-kind ‘bring your own clean energy’ program

The Georgia Public Service Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to back a clean energy program that is the first of its kind.

The commission approved the Customer Identified Resource (CIR) Program, which will allow major energy customers to generate clean energy for the grid, according to the Corporate Energy Buyers Association.

The concept is known as “bring your own clean energy,” or BYONCE. Commercial and industrial companies will pay Georgia Power a monthly tariff in exchange for a renewable energy credit. Excess credits will be distributed to the entire power grid, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“As national and state leaders seek to meet increasing economic demand while alleviating price pressure on ratepayers, Georgia’s program offers a smart solution that can serve as a model for other parts of the country,” said Nidhi Thakar, CEBA’s Senior Vice President for Policy, in a news release.

Adrien Webber, director of the Georgia Sierra Club, said this has been a goal of CEBA for a long time.

“We’ll be hearing more about the Bring Your Own Clean Energy program this summer at the PSC when the process begins,” he said.

Previously, companies had to rely on Georgia Power to add clean energy resources to the power grid or buy clean energy from other states, but now, they can work directly with developers to generate power themselves.

“With unprecedented economic development and electricity load growth in Georgia, energy customers want to strengthen the grid,” said Priya Barua, CEBA’s senior director of utility partnerships & innovation, in the release. “This new program gives large customers the opportunity to better match their loads with large-scale, customer-funded clean energy resources, ensuring companies with high energy demands can contribute meaningfully to the broader electricity system.”