Utilities
Water
Georgia’s high-quality ground and surface water make the state a prime location for water-dependent industries. South Georgia’s aquifers are among the most productive in the country, with yields of up to 6,000 gallons per minute. Moreover, the state’s assignments of water resources protect users from encroachment by others.
Electricity
More than 90 percent of Georgia’s communities and electricity distributors are supplied through an integrated transmission network jointly owned by three organizations: EMC-owned Georgia Transmission Corporation, Georgia Power Company and MEAG Power.
Companies establishing new facilities in Georgia benefit from competition among the various power suppliers. The Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act of 1973 created a unique customer choice option for power supply. The act gives customers, who have 900 kW connected load or greater, and located outside municipal limits, a one-time choice of power supply for new industrial/commercial enterprises in a competitive environment.
The sources of electrical generation are significant – the state’s two nuclear plants produce approximately 27 percent of the electricity. Coal, the nation’s major energy resource, produces roughly 64 percent of total electricity, compared to 51 percent for the rest of the nation. The state is in an especially enviable position regarding oil, since less than 1 percent of the state’s electricity is oil-generated, compared to 3 percent of the nation as a whole. The remaining electricity is produced from hydroelectric sources (about 4 percent) and natural gas (approximately 5 percent).
Oglethorpe Power Corporation generates power for 38 of the 41 and is among the largest cooperative electricity producers in the nation. You can learn more about how Oglethorpe Power operates and their ownership in power generation plants
here. Georgia also leads the way in renewable energy. Georgia's Green Power EMC is a not-for-profit cooperative founded in 2001 to support EMCs in their renewable energy need. Green Power EMC obtains green power from renewable facilities all over the state, including solar power, landfill gas generation, low-impact hydroelectric and biomass from wood waste. Its renewable energy projects total 283 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Find out more about Green Power EMC
here.
Natural Gas
Natural gas equates to roughly 40 percent of the energy used in Georgia’s industries, so the availability of abundant natural gas supplies at competitive prices is a key component of industrial growth in the state. There are approximately 84 municipal gas systems, 10 natural gas marketers and two investor-owned gas distribution companies: Atlanta Gas Light Company and Atmos Energy Corporation. Three of Georgia’s cooperatives own statewide gas marketers:
