Georgia residents, I want you to imagine your Georgia Power bill in January 2029. Same house, same habits — but $15 cheaper. That’s the promise baked into a 25-year contract between Georgia Power and OpenAI, approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission in August 2026. The deal covers OpenAI’s planned data-center campus in Effingham County, and it’s part of a broader portfolio of large-load agreements that Georgia Power projects will deliver roughly $950 million in annual customer savings starting in 2029.
The Deal in Plain Terms
OpenAI picks up its own tab — and then some.
Here’s what the contract actually requires:
- Because OpenAI pays the full cost of every infrastructure upgrade needed to serve its facility, no expenses shift to residential accounts.
- The campus will draw up to 3.2 gigawatts of power, phased in between roughly 2028 and 2032 — one of the largest single data-center loads in the country.
- OpenAI commits to up to 1,000 MW of flexible demand response, meaning Georgia Power can curtail power to the facility during peak demand periods, reducing the need to build expensive new generation capacity.
- Financial protections — minimum monthly bills, termination payments, and collateral requirements — ensure your bill isn’t the backstop if the deal sours.
- For a typical household using 1,000 kWh per month, Georgia Power projects savings of at least $180 per year starting in 2029, up from the $102 per year commitment made in December 2025 — so if you feel like you’ve been paying too much, relief may be on the horizon.
What Makes Georgia Different
The regulatory groundwork did the heavy lifting before OpenAI signed anything.
Since 2025, Georgia PSC rules have required any data-center contract above 100 MW to be filed for review at least 30 days before execution, with full-cost recovery built in. That framework is the reason Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene can say, “Growth is pushing electric rates up. That is not happening in Georgia.” The structure of the contract lends her other line at least partial credibility: “Data centers are paying more so families and small businesses can pay less.”
“Data centers are paying more so families and small businesses can pay less.” — Kim Greene, Georgia Power CEO
The Part Worth Watching
The fine print isn’t fully public, and some regulators aren’t convinced.
Some PSC commissioners have raised concerns, according to GovTech, that broader system-wide grid costs may not be fully captured in these contracts — with some analyses suggesting nearly $1 billion in costs potentially unaccounted for. The contract’s full terms remain confidential. The $950 million annual savings figure depends on projected load growth and revenue assumptions; if OpenAI’s deployment timeline slips or economic conditions shift, the math changes.
Georgia’s framework could become the template every other state copies. Whether it does depends entirely on whether $15 actually shows up on bills in 2029 — the live test of whether AI’s enormous power appetite and household affordability can genuinely coexist.
