Projects
- Formerly Under Development: The Southern Company and the Georgia Institute of Technology's Strategic Energy Institute have identified two regions off the coast of Georgia, southeast of Tybee Island and east of Jekyll Island, which appear to offer feasible sites for demonstration or utility-scale projects. The Southern Company applied for permits to install two meteorological towers for additional data collection to assess wind energy potential off Tybee Island but submitted a letter to BOEM indicating that Southern Company would like to withdraw their application for an Interim Policy Lease, which would have authorized the installation and operation of a meterological tower and/or buoy.
Policy, Planning, & Regulations
- Energy & Climate Change Planning: The 2006 State Energy Strategy called for Georgia to "explore opportunities for production of wind" through assistance of the Georgia Wind Working Group (now defunct), and to develop a triennial greenhouse gas inventory as a means of preparing for potential federal climate change policies. The 2014 Georgia Energy Report notes that regional utilities are proposing and procuring wind power purchase agreements to bring wind energy in from other states.
- Energy Demand/Incentives: Georgia does not have a renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
- Regional Ocean Management Planning: Georgia is a member of the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance (GSAA).
- Regional Electricity Transmission Planning: The majority of Georgia's electricity transmission is coordinated by the vertically-integrated Southern Company, which is a member of the Southeastern Reliability Corporation (SERC).
Supporting & Complementary Assets/Infrastructure
- R&D: Georgia Institute of Technology's Strategic Energy Institute and the Southern Company have been jointly pursuing the feasibility of building and operating a wind farm off the coast of Georgia since 2005.
- Supply Chain: Dedicated to breakbulk, roll-on/roll-off cargo, and combi-vessel operations, the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal has five deepwater berths and covers 200 acres, including 73 acres of open storage.
Economic Fundamentals
- Population: 10.3 million (3.2% of US, 2016)¹
- Population change (2010-2016): 6.4%²
- Civilian labor force: 5.0 million (3.1% of US, 2017)¹
- Median hourly wage (all occupations): $16.51 (2016)³
- State corporate income tax rate: 6% (2017)⁴
- Per capita personal income: $41,835 (41st in US, 2016)¹
- Residential electricity prices: 11.70 cents/kWh (2017)¹
- Commercial electricity prices: 9.79 cents/kWh (2017)¹
- Industrial electricity prices: 5.59 cents/kWh (2017)¹
- Total energy production: 622 trillion Btu (0.7% of US, 2015)¹
- Net electricity generation: 12,279 thousand MWh (3.4% of US, 2015)¹
- Total energy consumption per capita: 280 million Btu (31th in US, 2015)¹
- Carbon dioxide emissions: 59,274 thousand metric tons (2.9% of US, 2015)¹
- Sulfur dioxide emissions: 67 thousand metric tons (2.6% of US, 2015)¹
- Nitrogen dioxide emissions: 48 thousand metric tons (2.6% of US, 2015)¹
- Total estimated technical offshore wind potential generation: 156,456 GWh/yr (2.2% of US, 2016)⁵
References: U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA)¹; U.S. Census Bureau²; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)³; Tax Foundation⁴; and, U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)⁵