Regulators approve plans for new Georgia Power plants driven by rising demand

Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Bowen generates electricity, Dec. 14, 2020, in Euharlee, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Utility regulators on Tuesday approved a plan for Georgia Power Co. to expand a power plant southwest of Atlanta.

The Georgia Public Service Commission voted 5-0 for the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. to build three new fossil-fuel burning units at Plant Yates, near Newnan.

The company has declined to say how much it will spend on the plants, which will burn either natural gas or diesel fuel to generate electricity, but commission staff members have said similar recent plants in other states have cost $800 million or more.