Public Service Commission asks for staff to monitor large new power projects amid data-center growth

Rhys McAllister, executive director of the Public Service Commission (PSC), presented the agency's case for retaining house-added funding to staff construction monitoring for new Georgia Power infrastructure. He said forecasts have shifted from modest growth projections to a near-term surge driven by large data-center loads and that monitoring construction in real time is vital to ensuring prudency and protecting existing ratepayers.

McAllister described the PSC's role in evaluating Georgia Power's construction work and its responsibility to deny imprudent costs when plants are added to the rate base. He said the House included funding in the amended FY26 budget for one new engineer and one financial analyst, prorated for the remainder of the fiscal year, and that salaries annualized would be roughly $85,000 and $75,000 respectively (salaries plus fringe estimated in testimony). The PSC said it is currently short-staffed for construction monitoring and intends to promote internally and backfill positions to create qualified construction monitors.

Committee members asked for more detail on construction monitors' duties; Tom Bond (introduced by McAllister as PSC utility director) said monitors review project schedules, performance metrics, industry standards and real-time construction work to provide evidence needed to evaluate prudency at the end of projects. In a separate exchange, the PSC said it set rules to prevent data-center costs from being borne by average customers and expects large customers to bear incremental costs under contract terms.