PSC candidates talk data centers as voting starts
Georgia Public Service Commission candidates are debating how the state should regulate utility contracts and protect ratepayers as OpenAI prepares to build a hyperscale data center in Effingham County. Candidates differ on incentives, infrastructure costs, renewable energy requirements, transparency, water use and local control, while the PSC has already approved Georgia Power’s large-load contract for the facility.
Candidates for Georgia’s Public Service Commission are making data center policy a campaign issue as OpenAI prepares to build a hyperscale facility in Effingham County. The commission approved Georgia Power’s large-load contract for the project and also approved roughly 10 gigawatts of additional generation, prompting debate over whether residential customers could bear the cost of new infrastructure if projected demand fails to materialize.
Candidates Joshua Tolbert, Shelia Edwards, Peter Hubbard and Fitz Johnson emphasized different safeguards, including stronger collateral and termination provisions, greater transparency, renewable energy requirements, protections for ratepayers and limits on incentives. Hubbard said the OpenAI contract deserved additional scrutiny, while Edwards criticized the lack of regulation for water use, noise and community impacts. The article also notes growing local opposition to data centers near neighborhoods, schools and churches and calls for local ordinances governing those effects.