Regulators, Pentagon, student activists push back on Georgia Power's energy plans

Units 3, left, and 4 and their cooling towers stand at Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant, Jan. 20, 2023, in Waynesboro, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

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Georgia energy regulators this week expressed skepticism toward Georgia Power’s request to buy and generate more energy to meet what the company is calling unprecedented growth in commercial demand.

In hearings before the Georgia Public Service Commission on Tuesday and Wednesday, representatives of the state’s largest utility made their case for a combination of energy purchases and construction of new batteries and gas turbines to meet the needs of an influx of new companies, which they said represented 40 years of growth over a span of just two years.