Georgia Power, Southern Company, the Department of Energy, and elected officials marked the future of Plant Wansley during a special event on April 30. The gathering brought together leaders from state and local government as well as community representatives to discuss recent developments at the historic West Georgia power plant.
Plant Wansley has played a key role in Georgia’s energy production since its opening in 1976. In 2022, Georgia Power retired all active coal-fired generation at the site. Construction has now begun on two combined cycle units that will produce a total of 1,453 megawatts of energy and a new battery energy storage system with a capacity of 500 megawatts.
In February, Southern Company and the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing announced a $26.5 billion loan package to support these projects at Plant Wansley as well as similar initiatives in Alabama. Over approximately thirty years, customers are expected to see estimated savings totaling $7 billion.
“This development at Plant Wansley is just one example of what’s happening across Georgia where we are adding more than 10,000 megawatts of new generation in the coming years to provide baseload power and forecastable, dispatchable capacity for our customers,” said Kim Greene, chairman, president and chief executive officer for Georgia Power at the event. “The future of Wansley reflects how Georgia Power continues to evolve to meet the needs of a growing state—supporting economic development, strengthening reliability, and delivering energy our customers can count on today and for decades to come. We are grateful for the support and partnership of the Department of Energy, the members of the Georgia General Assembly and Georgia Public Service Commission, and many other state and local partners who share our commitment to reliable and affordable energy for every Georgian.”
With approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), Georgia Power is expanding its diverse generation mix through new natural gas facilities—including additional projects planned or underway at sites such as Plant Bowen in Bartow County; Plant McIntosh in Effingham County; Plant Yates in Coweta County—and thousands more megawatts worth of battery storage systems under development statewide. Plans also include over one thousand miles of new transmission lines across Georgia.
Greene highlighted that customer benefits from these assets were central throughout discussions: growth among large-load customers like data centers has helped enable base rate freezes while spreading fixed costs across more users—a move aimed at protecting residential and small business consumers. Growth also allows annual savings commitments beginning in 2029.
