Regulators order Georgia Power to double its solar

The solar market in Georgia – and the entire U.S. South – just got a big boost. In a meeting approving Georgia Power’s long-term plan, the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) has required that the utility procure 2.21 GW of solar over the next five years, a sharp increase from Georgia Power���s earlier plans to source only 1 GW. This will include both distributed and utility-scale solar in four separate tranches, and in two series of solicitations in 2020 and 2021, with capacity to come online through 2024. This will roughly double the volume of solar in the state. While Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) estimates that Georgia had 1.57 GW of solar at the end of the first quarter of 2019, GPSC projects that the state will have 2.4 GW online by the end of the year. The only exception is the CRSP program where Ebersbach expects 10-year contracts, as the large commercial and industrial customers whom the program serves prefer shorter contract lengths. Projects under the 2020 and 2021 solicitations are planned to come online from 2022 through 2024, which means that if they are started soon enough these projects will qualify for some portion of the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) before it falls to 10%.