Georgia Power Greens Generation Portfolio, but Hears Louder Calls for Solar

Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Georgia Power Company (GPC) (Atlanta, Georgia), the largest subsidiary of the Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), is greening its electricity portfolio. Critics say the greening is moving too slowly, but GPC representatives stress that renewable resources must be cost-effective before they are added to the utility's resource portfolio.

Last month, GPC announced it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Rollcast Energy Incorporated (Charlotte, North Carolina) to receive 53.5 megawatts (MW) of biomass-generated electricity from the newly completed Piedmont Green Biomass Power Plant, located in Barnesville, Georgia. The PPA represents the full electric output of the plant.

"We continue to implement a strategy that diversifies our generation portfolio through renewable sources that are cost-effective for our customers," said Paul Bowers, GPC's president and chief executive, in a May 14 statement about the Piedmont plant. "Our customers want safe, clean, reliable and affordable energy, and that's a commitment we will keep."

The Piedmont Green plant will burn about 500,000 tons of woody biomass annually, all sourced from areas near the plant. GPC did not disclose the value of the PPA.

Earlier this year, GPC signed a PPA for 250 MW of wind power from the existing Blue Canyon Windfarm in southwestern Oklahoma. EDP Renewables North America LLC (Houston, Texas) owns that windfarm. GPC will begin receiving electricity from Blue Canyon in January 2016.

In announcing the Blue Canyon PPA, Bowers said: "Adding wind energy to our generation mix underscores our commitment to a diverse portfolio that offers clean, safe, reliable, sustainable and low-cost electricity for years to come. We are continuously evaluating energy options that provide the best overall economic value to our customers."

Aside from these two transactions, GPC issued separate requests for proposals (RFP) earlier this year for up to 210 MW of solar generation. The utility is looking to sign long-term contracts for up to 120 MW of "utility-scale" solar, in projects of 20 MW or less, as well as up to 90 MW of "distributed-scale" solar, sized at up to 1 MW.

Distributed scale solar power typically is photovoltaic panels sited on home or business rooftops. The distributed-scale solar RFP was over-subscribed, a Georgia Power spokesman said. The utility's RFP for utility-scale solar closed earlier this month. Industrial Info was unable to obtain any information on the number of utility-scale bids submitted, or the amount of utility-scale solar generation that bidders proposed to construct.

In describing its 210-MW Georgia Power Advanced Solar Initiative (GPASI), the utility said it likely was the largest voluntarily developed solar portfolio for U.S. investor-owned utilities. Unlike about 30 states, Georgia does not have a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that mandates what percentage of electricity must come from renewable sources by a specific date. Some states require that 25% or more of a utility's electricity must come from renewables by 2020.

The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) (Atlanta, Georgia) is holding its triennial update of GPC's integrated resource plan. In recent hearings, an unusual array of parties has urged the panel to require Georgia's largest utility to get greener faster.

GPC currently has about 61.5 MW of solar generation. Company officials note that solar generation will more than triple once the 210 MW of new solar resources expected to be contracted under its RFPs come online. "We are committed to adding renewable resources where it doesn't put upward pressure on electric rates," spokesman John Kraft told Industrial Info. "Renewable projects have to perform, they have to be cost-effective, and they need to be supported by the state's public service commission."

Like most electric utilities, GPC remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels and nuclear. Renewables, mostly hydroelectric generation, accounted for about 7% of the utility's generating capacity last year, far behind fossil fuels and nuclear. Not surprisingly, renewable energy advocates want GPC to more rapidly expand its portfolio of renewable generation.

Surprisingly, the Atlanta Tea Party also is prodding GPC to get greener faster. A news report from the Associated Press earlier this month said that Debbie Dooley, a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party, is urging the five PSC commissioners to mandate Georgia Power to expand its renewable portfolio to include more solar energy. If the group's call is rebuffed, Dooley said her tea party group might support repealing a law granting monopoly service territories to the state's utilities. Unlike some states, Georgia never opened its electricity market to competition.

"They can protect their business and say, 'We don't want the competition.' They have veto power," Dooley said of Georgia Power. "It would be like Wal-Mart saying, 'Hey we don't want Kmart here. We don't want them to build.'"

One of the five PSC commissioners--Lauren "Bubba" McDonald Jr.--also wants to increase solar's role in GPC's power portfolio. A columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said McDonald is no "rabid revolutionary," but he is part of an effort to "force real, radical change upon one of this state's most staid and revered institutions. McDonald is the leader of a new and very Republican effort to require that Georgia Power give solar energy a chance."

McDonald would like Georgia Power's future portfolio to include 500 or more megawatts of energy generated by solar power. Speaking of GPC's integrated resource plan, McDonald was quoted as saying, "I'm going to have some solar in it--significant solar. I believe I can make it happen, even if the power company is not that excited about it." The PSC commissioner said he may be able to get a majority vote when the commission voted on GPC's resource plan in mid-July.

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