Georgia Power Approved for 1.137GW Solar Power Purchase Agreements

en.Wedoany.com Reported - US utility Georgia Power has received approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to sign seven solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) totaling 1,137MW through the CARES 2023 and CARES 2025 procurement programs.

The projects are distributed across seven counties in Georgia and are expected to enter commercial operation as early as 2029. Georgia Power stated that the procurement under the CARES 2023 program is the largest single solar procurement in the company's history. The installed capacity by county is as follows: Appling County 78MW, Decatur County 130MW, Jefferson County 194MW, Sumter County 200MW, Warren County 150MW, Emanuel County 185MW, and Irwin County 200MW.

These PPAs were approved through the CARES 2025 request for proposals (RFP), which was authorized under Georgia Power's 2022 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and also covers additional procurement under the CARES 2023 program. Previously, in September 2025, the company received approval for 1,068MW of solar projects under CARES 2023, located in Coffee County, Jefferson County, Laurens County, Mitchell County, and Wilkinson County.

Wilson Mallard, Director of Renewable Development at Georgia Power, stated that the Georgia Public Service Commission's approval of these agreements helps advance cost-effective renewable energy in the state, adding more than 1,100MW of renewable energy resources to a diverse generation mix; renewable energy plays an important role in addressing Georgia's growing demand and expanding customer access to carbon-free energy through the CARES subscription program.

The CARES program was jointly developed by Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission, allowing eligible customers to subscribe to renewable energy resources and receive a proportional share of the output from these resources. The company has also opened registration for the CARES Customer Identified Resource (CARES CIR) program, which allows eligible commercial and industrial customers to designate renewable energy projects for possible participation in the CARES program. The CARES CIR program has been approved for up to 3GW of new renewable energy capacity, with two procurement categories: CARES CIR Utility Scale, for eligible customers with annual energy demand above 3MW and project sizes greater than 6MW; and CARES CIR Distributed Generation, for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers with annual demand between 1MW and 3MW, for locally procured solar projects ranging from 250kW to 6MW.

Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company and operates a generation mix that includes nuclear, fossil fuel, and renewable energy. In April 2026, the company solicited proposals for 2,000-6,000MW of new dispatchable capacity to meet projected 2032-2033 targets, involving thermal generation, energy storage, and solar-plus-storage resources. The company also applied for approval of approximately 385MW of new solar capacity under the CARES program; previously in 2025, more than 1GW of solar PPAs were certified. Currently, 32 large load customers have committed to approximately 15,600MW of electric service, with 21 projects under construction.

Last year, Sean Garren, Chief Program Officer at advocacy organization Vote Solar, criticized the plan's continued reliance on fossil fuels in an interview with PV Tech Premium, despite its inclusion of 4GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2035. Garren stated that the new renewable energy reflects the need for clean energy to meet growing electricity demand, but he believes the IRP still heavily favors fossil fuel generation.