Georgia Power IRP - Takeaway for Funding costs

Georgia Power, one of the largest components of Southern Company, filed an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) which is creating quite a stir among environmentalists.  But the subtext is important to you, regardless of what type of generation assets produce your electricity.

The IRP anticipates demand growing by 2 gigawatts by the end of the decade.  This recognizes that domestic manufacturing is growing significantly even without the impact of Artificial Intelligence --  Large Language AI (LLMs) are estimated to use 10 time the electricity of a search engine – and other green transition technologies, such as EVs. Southern Company believes that reindustrialization or digitization is going to keep older, base load plants online longer than expected. 

 

As an outside observer, it seems to me that utility executives navigating capital markets will see this growing demand for electricity is both an opportunity and a challenge. Georgia Power’s IRP highlights an accelerating demand which, combined with strained supply chains for transformers and grid infrastructure, is making capital allocation more competitive than ever.

Yet, as utilities seek funding for expansion and modernization, one factor is beginning to separate financially attractive utilities from risk-laden ones: wildfire mitigation. Investors are paying increasing attention to how utilities address wildfire risk, and those with strong mitigation strategies— based on Risk to Impact and Risk Spend Efficiency modeling and proactive vegetation management—are emerging as the more attractive investment opportunities.

But, "To a hammer, everything looks like a nail". I work for Athena, a company with a pre-wildfire tool used by POUs and IOUs, so I'm biased.  (We have a cost-effective tool that can go head-to-head with the most expensive and well-known wildfire products out there for planning, spread analysis, PSPS, WMP and other tools for utilities. 

Would love to know what others think.