Why Mississippi coal is powering Georgia's data centers

By Emily Jones, Gautama Mehta · WABE

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Georgia Power has entered into power purchase agreements with Mississippi Power to buy 750 megawatts of electricity through 2028, a deal that reverses the planned retirement of coal units at Plant Daniel in Mississippi. The arrangement, approved by Georgia's Public Service Commission in April 2024, allows Georgia to meet rising electricity demand from data centers while effectively externalizing the pollution and costs of coal generation to Mississippi ratepayers. SACE's Bryan Jacob criticizes the lack of public service commission scrutiny over such affiliate transactions, arguing regulators should prioritize ratepayer interests over shareholder profits.

The Public Service Commissions and Public Utilities Commissions are supposed to govern the monopoly utilities to make sure that they're making the decisions that are in the best interest of the ratepayers and not necessarily in the best interest of shareholders
Bryan Jacob

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