Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Talks Growing Energy Needs

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
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**Tyler Kendall** (0:07)
I'm pleased to say that I'm joined now by Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp. Governor, it's so nice to see you here in Las Vegas. You're normally in Atlanta, I'm normally in Washington, but we both find ourselves here on the sidelines of an energy conference because the idea of electricity demand tied to data centers has become a nationwide issue. And we wanted to talk to you today because Georgia is one of the fastest growing markets when it comes to data centers. And I'm curious, how prepared is your electric grid for this influx in demand?

**Brian Kemp** (0:41)
Well, we're very prepared. We got a great story to tell in Georgia, and it's not just for data centers, but also large load customers like the new Hyundai MetaPlant. Marty and I were there yesterday rolling the first new Kia Sportage Hybrid off of the line. So they're a huge power user.
So we're not only ramping up our power supply for data centers, but also for large load customers, also making sure we take care of all our residential and other small business customers in Georgia. We have a great story to tell. Our rates are dropping and our generation is going up.

**Tyler Kendall** (1:14)
But a big part of this demand is coming from data centers because Southern Company, which owns and operates Georgia Power, is estimating that power is expected to drop 8-10 percent annually, driven solely by the AI buildout. What can you share about how you are helping to keep rates down when you have these big tech companies that are coming in and there is this risk to consumers?

**Brian Kemp** (1:41)
Well, we're charging the big tech companies more. We've got a great rate structure in Georgia. Our Public Service Commission, the Georgia General Assembly along with our power producers like Georgia Power, have put a structure in that as we build the generation out, and they're going to do that by half of what they have now just in the next less than 10 years, which is pretty incredible that a state can do that to meet the demands of its customers. But also making them pay for that build out and tying that into rates long term. It's actually allowed Georgia Power a year or so go to freeze residential rates for three years in Georgia. Since then, they've actually dropped residential rates by a few dollars a month. And in the future, they're going to be giving money back to the rate payers as this build out continues. So it's really unlike any other model in the country where you have other states, other markets where rates are going up anywhere from 15 to 30 percent. And for us, that's a great economic advantage for us to sell the state saying, come, we have clean energy with Vogel three and four online now, a lot of solar.
We can meet your needs, but also your cost is going to be as good as anywhere in the country.

**Tyler Kendall** (2:46)
I'm glad that you brought up that rate freeze because I wanted to ask you about it because Georgia Power received one of the largest federal energy loans in history. It was $22 billion, but rate payers are going to be on the hook to pay that loan back, right? So should Georgia consider extending that rate freeze?

**Brian Kemp** (3:03)
Well, it's no well, they've actually done away with the rate freeze now and are lowering rates.
So, you know, there was a rate freeze. Now they've gone back and said, hey, because of the business that we have coming, the way we've structured the deals, we're now going to be able to lower rates by, I can't remember, five or six dollars a month per customer from the residential side. And then in the future, with even more of this coming, also large load customers, like I mentioned, the Hyundai Meta plant, the Rivian plant is going to come online. We have other big manufacturers that are coming to our state, producing great paying jobs with great benefits, bringing economic prosperity to all parts of our state. They're actually going to be able to lower rates and return money to the taxpayer. I know that is hard to believe, because that is not happening anywhere else in the rest of the country, which is why our story is so compelling.

**Tyler Kendall** (3:54)
Well, part of this is also coming into the politics of the state. We're seeing it in the gubernatorial race, your term limited, but we have the Democratic candidate, Keisha Lance Bottoms, advocating that we should see a freezing construction when it comes to this. Has any party figured out?