‘Money in politics.’ Why is clean energy in Georgia so hard to come by?

The clean energy space has changed greatly over the past year, and with the onslaught of data centers coming to Georgia, many concerns have been raised about utility costs and pollution.

During the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act provided the largest investment in clean energy solutions in American history, but when President Donald Trump took office, many incentives for clean energy were rolled back.

Zach Amittay is the Southeast advocate for E2, a national network of business voices, executives, investors and other members of the business community that advocate for policies to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

“We are seeing the effects of that curtailment now, and we’ll continue to see it, we’d say, in the coming years, unless Congress comes back to its senses and reinstates some of those incentives and federal support for clean energy deployment,” he said.

On the state level, Georgia does not have many, if any, incentives for clean energy, and no meaningful policy was passed this legislative session to support the clean energy industry. This is amid the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran impacting global energy markets and local engagement on issues surrounding affordability, which was considered the buzzword at the state Capitol this session.

Adrien Webber, the director of the Georgia Sierra Club, said Georgia has a cap on rooftop solar so only a certain number of customers in the Georgia Power service territory can join the program.

“What we see time and time again, specifically with Georgia Power is they don’t want to see distributed energy like solar because it affects their bottom line. They make money by building out fossil fuel projects, by keeping coal online, by building out gas.

The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a monumental expansion of Georgia Power’s capacity in December, and although environmental groups have strongly fought against the decision, no efforts have been successful to change the ruling.

Data centers and utilities

A large push at the state Capitol this session was to limit data centers and protect consumers from the costs to build and run them, but not one data center bill made it to the governor’s desk.

Webber estimated that more than a dozen data center bills were introduced in the legislature

“March was crazy for us, and it’s frustrating because again, on the ground, not only is Sierra Club down at the state legislature talking to our elected officials, but we’re also in the community educating people about these issue,” he said. “We are hearing the real life impacts of these decisions.”

Ammitay said his group lobbied for bills this session to protect Georgia Power customers from paying for the costs associated with data centers as well as end tax credits for the multibillion dollar companies.

“To be blunt, it’s really around Georgia Power, and the utility wanted to have a little bit more control over that portion of the process,” Ammitay said. “If these kind of rate payer protections were put in place, that would mean that they wouldn’t be able to fall back on passing on the cost to Georgia households and small businesses.”

Georgia doesn’t have a strong regulatory landscape for consumer protections, Webber said. Plus, some lawmakers have a vested interest in the success of data centers in the state.

A development owned by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ father will include 11 million square feet of data centers along Interstate 75.

Georgia Power and big technology companies have a team of lobbyists that work throughout the year to protect their interests, and they also have one other very important factor: money.

Money in politics

“None of our bills made it because essentially the leadership didn’t want to see any of those bills pass because as soon as session ends, they can start fundraising again,” Webber said. “We’ll be seeing big tech heavily influencing, we’ll see Southern Company and Georgia Power are heavily influencing our elections this year.”

Webber said if you look at campaign finance reports, Georgia Power and big technology companies, like Amazon, Google and Meta, are contributing to candidates, and fighting against those companies is a tough feat.

“We have to, like I said, be nimble on how we can out message the biggest, most rich companies in the world, who are continuing to get richer and richer while our bills go up,” Webber said.

However, there is hope. Webber said the outrage over data centers and high utility prices paired with an interest in clean, self-generated energy may be enough to make a difference.

“We were feeling good about it because of the amount of outrage we have been seeing from consumers in Georgia,” he said. “But money in politics is a real problem.

‘Go vote.’

If people want to get involved, Webber said people should do two things: engage on the local level and go vote.

Ammitay said the election for the Public Service Commission in November saw a dramatic outcome in which two Republicans were ousted from their seats, but work still needs to be done to make meaningful change.

“So whether it’s through the legislature, which we certainly have not lost hope that we can make progress there, or through the Public Service Commission, we do think this is an issue that’s not going to go away,” he said. “We of course will be continuing to work hard on ensuring the necessary ratepayer protections.”

Despite political parties, Webber said we all share concerns about affordability and ensuring the safety of our communities.

“If people can plug in at the local level with their neighbors, I think again, it kind of empowers people,” he said. “It can be effective.”