HB 1027: Local government; authorize certain long-term contracts for sale of electric power

Current Georgia law generally caps county and municipal utility contracts at 10 years, with a 20 year exception only for solar and wind power deals. This bill adds a new 20 year exception for contracts to sell electric power to a single large customer, but only if a Fulton County Superior Court validates the contract as reasonable and enforceable, and only if the contract makes that customer pay the cost of any new power plant built to serve it during its first purchase agreement. If a new plant's output is shared with other governments, those governments cannot be charged more than their share of the plant's output. The bill also broadens the county provision (O.C.G.A. § 36-1-26) and rewrites the municipal provision (O.C.G.A. § 36-30-3) to apply to any 'political subdivision,' not just municipal corporations, and removes language that had limited emergency relief from contract obligations to situations of impossibility or substantial financial burden. Separately, it adds a new section to the law governing the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 46-3-126) defining a 'large load customer' as one needing 100 megawatts or more of power, and requiring contracts with such customers to include billing, term, credit, and termination protections for residential and retail customers, plus authority for the customer to pay for new generating capacity built to serve it.

• Adds a new 20 year contract exception for electric power sales validated by Fulton County Superior Court as reasonable and enforceable, on top of the existing solar and wind exceptions.
• Requires that in these validated long-term power contracts, the large customer pays for any new power plant built to serve it during the contract's initial term.
• Caps how much cost governments sharing a new power plant's output with a large customer can be charged, limiting them to their pro rata share of the plant's output.
• Expands the municipal utility contract law from applying only to 'municipal corporations' to applying to any 'political subdivision.'
• Removes language that had limited a government's excuse from contract obligations during emergencies to cases of impossibility or substantial financial burden.
• Defines 'large load customer' (100 megawatts or more of peak demand) in the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia's powers law and requires new contracts with such customers to include ratepayer protections.

Georgia counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions that buy or sell electric power; the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the political subdivisions that contract with it; very large industrial or data center customers needing 100 megawatts or more of power; and residential and retail electricity customers whose rates the bill's protections are meant to shield.

As large industrial and data center customers seek massive amounts of power, this bill lets Georgia governments and MEAG lock in longer power deals and shift the cost of building new power plants onto those big customers rather than everyday ratepayers, subject to court review and specific contract protections.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-1-26 to add a third 20 year contract exception (beyond solar and wind) for electric power sales validated by Fulton County Superior Court, with the large customer bearing new plant costs during its initial contract term.
• Section 1 also caps political subdivisions' share of new power plant construction costs at their pro rata share of the plant's output when output is shared with a large customer.
• Section 2 makes the same 20 year exception and cost allocation rules apply under O.C.G.A. § 36-30-3, and replaces 'municipal corporation' with 'political subdivision' throughout that section.
• Sections 1 and 2 both drop prior language limiting emergency relief from contract duties to situations that made compliance impossible or created a substantial financial burden.
• Section 3 adds a new paragraph to O.C.G.A. § 46-3-126 defining 'large load customer' as a customer needing 100 megawatts or more of peak demand on one or connected tracts of land.
• Section 3 requires new contracts between the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (or its member political subdivisions) and large load customers to include minimum billing requirements, contract terms that can exceed the standard tariff, credit and performance protections, and termination protections for retail customers.
• Section 3 authorizes the authority and political subdivisions to make large load customers pay all costs of new generating capacity built to serve them during the contract's initial term.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)
2. 2026-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2026-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-02-20Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2026-02-19House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-02-19House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-05House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2026-01-29House Second Readers (House)

• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)Primary sponsor
• Bill Yearta (R, HD-152)
• Bruce Williamson (R, HD-112)
• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)
• Matt Barton (R, HD-005)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 19, 2026

   162 yea, 2 nay (7 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #533

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

• electric utilities
• local government contracts
• data centers and power demand
• Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia
• ratepayer protection