---
title: HB 1027. Local government; authorize certain long-term contracts for sale of electric power
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1027
cite_as: HB 1027, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1027
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1027.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1027/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72357
date: 2026-03-31
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 901
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bill_number: HB 1027
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-19
last_action: Senate Tabled
sponsors:
- Victor Anderson
- Bill Yearta
- Bruce Williamson
- Noel Williams
- Matthew Gambill
- Matt Barton
- Frank Ginn
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1027/2025
upstream_id: 2095138
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- electric utilities
- local government contracts
- data centers and power demand
- Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia
- ratepayer protection
---
# HB 1027. Local government; authorize certain long-term contracts for sale of electric power
## Text
The Senate Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities offered the following
substitute to HB 1027:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapters 1 and 30 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to general provisions applicable to counties only and general provisions applicable to
municipal corporations only, respectively, so as to authorize certain long-term contracts for
the sale of electric power; to amend Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 46 of the Official Code
of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, so as to
provide certain mandatory and optional contract terms and conditions between the authority,
certain political subdivisions, and large load customers; to provide for a definition; to provide
for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 1 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions applicable to counties only, is amended by revising Code Section 36-1-26, relating
to contracts for utility services and terms and conditions, as follows:
"36-1-26.
The governing authority of any county in this state may authorize the execution of one or
more contracts which specify the rates, fees, or other charges which will be charged and
collected by the county for electric, natural gas, or water utility services to be provided by
the county to one or more of its utility customers. Any such contract shall be subject to the
following conditions and limitations:
(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, no such contract shall
be for a term in excess of ten years.
(B) No such contract for:
(i) Solar solar utility services; or for wind
(ii) Wind utility services; or
(iii) The sale of electric power which is validated by the Fulton County Superior
Court as to its reasonableness and enforceability, including specific contract terms
requiring the costs of any new power generation plant required to service a specific
customer to be paid by such customer during the term of the customer's initial power
purchase agreement; provided, further, that any construction costs for a new power
generation facility, where the output is shared between the specific large load
customer and political subdivisions of this state, be allocated in a manner that ensures
that such political subdivisions are not responsible for any construction costs in excess
of their pro rata share of the facility output
shall be for a term in excess of 20 years;
(2) Any such contract which is for a term in excess of two years shall include
commercially reasonable provisions under which the rates, fees, or other charges shall be
adjusted with respect to inflationary or deflationary factors affecting the provision of the
utility service in question; and
(3) Any such contract shall include commercially reasonable provisions relieving the
county from its obligations under the contract in the event that the county's ability to
comply with the contract is impaired by war, natural disaster, catastrophe, or any other
emergency creating conditions under which the county's compliance with the contract
would become impossible or create a substantial financial burden upon the county or its
taxpayers."
SECTION 2.
Chapter 30 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions applicable to municipal corporations only, is amended in Code Section 36-30-3,
relating to ordinances of a council not to bind succeeding councils and exceptions, by
revising subsection (d) as follows:
"(d) The governing authority of any municipal corporation political subdivision in this
state may authorize the execution of one or more contracts which specify the rates, fees,
or other charges which will be charged and collected by the municipal corporation political
subdivision for electric, natural gas, or water utility services to be provided by the
municipal corporation political subdivision to one or more of its utility customers. Nothing
in this subsection, however, shall be construed to grant to any municipal politicial
subdivision's governing authority the right or power to specify the rates, fees, or charges
to be collected for electric, natural gas, or water utility services provided by a local
authority, as defined in subsection (a) of Code Section 36-80-17, where the right or power
to specify such rates, fees, or charges is otherwise vested by local constitutional
amendment, general statute, or local law in the governing body of such local authority.
Any such contract shall be subject to the following conditions and limitations:
(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, no such contract shall
be for a term in excess of ten years.
(B) No such contract for:
(i) Solar solar utility services; or for wind
(ii) Wind utility services; or
(iii) The sale of electric power which is validated by the Fulton County Superior
Court as to its reasonableness and enforceability, including specific contract terms
requiring the costs of any new power generation plant required to serve a specific
customer to be paid by such customer during the term of the customer's initial power
purchase agreement; provided, further, that any construction costs for a new power
generation facility, where the output is shared between the specific large load
customer and political subdivisions of this state, be allocated in a manner that ensures
that such political subdivisions are not responsible for any construction costs in excess
of their pro rata share of the facility output
shall be for a term in excess of 20 years;
(2) Any such contract which is for a term in excess of two years shall include
commercially reasonable provisions under which the rates, fees, or other charges shall be
adjusted with respect to inflationary or deflationary factors affecting the provision of the
utility service in question; and
(3) Any such contract shall include commercially reasonable provisions relieving the
municipal corporation political subdivision from its obligations under the contract in the
event that the municipal corporation's political subdivision's ability to comply with the
contract is impaired by war, natural disaster, catastrophe, or any other emergency creating
conditions under which the municipal corporation's compliance with the contract would
become impossible or create a substantial financial burden upon the municipal
corporation or its taxpayers."
SECTION 3.
Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, is amended in Code Section 46-3-126, relating to
powers of the authority generally, by adding a new paragraph to read as follows:
"(7.1)(A) As used in this paragraph, the term 'large load customer' means customers
with an expected total peak demand of 100 megawatts or greater at one or more
premises located on one tract or contiguous tracts of land.
(B) Each contract between the authority or those political subdivisions which have
contracted with the authority for the purchase of electric power or energy and a large
load customer for the provision of electric service, entered into on or after the effective
date of this Act, shall include terms and conditions designed to protect residential and
retail electricity customers from costs associated with serving new large load
customers, including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) Minimum billing requirements designed to recover incremental costs associated
with serving or preparing to serve a large load customer;
(ii) A contract term that may exceed the length of the applicable service tariff;
(iii) Performance and credit provisions designed to protect retail customers in the
event of contract default; and
(iv) Termination provisions designed to protect retail customers in the event of
termination of the contract for electric service.
(C) The authority and those political subdivisions which have contracted with the
authority for the purchase of electric power or energy shall be authorized to enter into
contracts with a large load customer whereby such large load customer agrees to pay,
during the initial term of such contract, all costs associated with creating or establishing
more electric generating capacity for such customer."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Senate substitute to HB 1027 would let Georgia counties, cities, and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia sign longer contracts, up to 20 years, for electric power sold to very large industrial customers, with rules meant to keep those costs off regular ratepayers.
### Plain-language summary
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.
### What it does
- 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.
### Who it affects
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.
### Why it matters
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.
### Key provisions
- 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.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2026-02-19)
- Last action: Senate Tabled (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Victor Anderson, Bill Yearta, Bruce Williamson, Noel Williams, Matthew Gambill, Matt Barton, Frank Ginn
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72357
> The history, votes, and amendments (901 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1027.md?full=1