---
title: HB 402. Public Service Commission; establishment of renewable energy sources and renewable energy portfolio standard goals for electric service providers; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb402
cite_as: HB 402, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb402
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb402.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb402/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70204
date: 2025-02-13
status: introduced
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: 179
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb402.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 402
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-11
last_action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted
sponsors:
- Spencer Frye
- Eric Bell
- Karla Drenner
- Gabriel Sanchez
- Miriam Paris
- Samuel Park
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB402/2025
upstream_id: 1965773
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- renewable energy
- Public Service Commission
- electric utilities
- energy policy
- Georgia Environmental Finance Authority
---
# HB 402. Public Service Commission; establishment of renewable energy sources and renewable energy portfolio standard goals for electric service providers; provide
## Text
House Bill 402
By: Representatives Frye of the 122nd, Bell of the 75th, Drenner of the 85th, Sanchez of the
42nd, Paris of the 142nd, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Titles 46 and 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to public
utilities and public transportation and state government, respectively, so as to provide for the
establishment of renewable energy sources and renewable energy portfolio standard goals
by the Public Service Commission for electric service providers; to provide for the inclusion
of existing or planned renewable energy resources in integrated resource plans; to authorize
the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to finance and perform certain duties in
connection with projects relating to renewable energy facilities; to provide for limited
liability; to revise and provide for definitions; to provide for rules and regulations; to provide
legislative findings; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to public utilities and public
transportation, is amended in Article 1 of Chapter 3, relating to generation and distribution
of electricity generally, by adding a new part to read as follows:
"Part 6
46-3-69.5.
(a) It is the intent of the legislature to recognize the economic, environmental, and fuel
diversity benefits of renewable energy resources; to encourage further development of
these resources; and to encourage the establishment of a market for renewable energy in
Georgia using this state's renewable energy resources. These efforts can reduce the
consumption of fossil fuels for the generation of electricity and reduce this state's
dependence on finite, nonrenewable resources. Accordingly, the General Assembly finds
and declares that goals should be established for electric service providers to guide them
in incorporating renewable resources into their resource portfolios.
(b) The purpose of this part is to lessen Georgia's dependence on fossil fuels and the
exposure of Georgia's consumers to volatile and rising prices for coal and natural gas by
encouraging the greater use of renewable energy by establishing goals for electric service
providers in implementing portfolio standards for renewable energy.
46-3-69.6.
As used in this part, the term:
(1) 'Biomass material' means organic matter, excluding fossil fuels and black liquor,
including agricultural crops; plants; trees; wood; wood wastes and residues; sawmill
waste; sawdust; wood chips; bark chips; forest thinning, harvesting, or clearing residues;
wood waste from pallets or other wood demolition debris; peanut shells; cotton plants;
corn stalks; and plant matter, including aquatic plants, grasses, stalks, vegetation, and
residues, including hulls, shells, or cellulose-containing fibers.
(2) 'Electric membership corporation' means a corporation organized under Article 4 of
this chapter.
(3) 'Electric service provider' means any electric utility, electric membership corporation,
or municipal electric provider engaged in the business of distributing electricity to retail
or wholesale electric customers in this state.
(4) 'Low impact hydropower' means energy produced by a dam and powerhouse that is:
(A) Certified as low impact by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute; or
(B) Evaluated by the commission as being compliant with the following standards:
(i) Providing river flows that are healthy for fish, wildlife, and water quality,
including seasonal flow fluctuations where appropriate;
(ii) Protecting water quality in the river;
(iii) Providing effective fish passage and protecting fish from entrainment;
(iv) Taking sufficient action to protect, mitigate, and enhance environmental
conditions in the watershed;
(v) Avoiding negative impact on species classified as threatened or endangered by
the federal or state government;
(vi) Avoiding inappropriate impact on cultural resources;
(vii) Providing free access to the water and accommodating recreational activities on
the river; and
(viii) Avoiding any recommendation for removal by a federal or state agency due to
adverse environmental impacts.
(5) 'Municipal electric provider' means an entity that provides electric services and that
is owned or operated by a municipal corporation.
(6) 'Renewable energy' means electrical energy produced from or by renewable energy
sources.
(7) 'Renewable energy sources' means any of the following: wind; solar energy; low
impact hydropower; geothermal resources; ocean thermal energy; wave or tidal energy;
biofuels derived entirely from organic sources other than coal, petroleum, or natural gas;
the combustion of landfill gas; methane gas resulting from the anaerobic decomposition
of organic materials; plasma arc; pyrolysis; gasification; biomass materials; postconsumer
waste paper; forest related sources, including mill residues, waste pallets, crates, and
dunnage; or forest and agricultural biomass sources, including orchard tree crops,
vineyard, grain, legumes, sugar, switchgrass, other crop by-products or residues, and
precommercial thinning, slash, brush, or landscape trimmings, but not including
old-growth timber.
46-3-69.7.
(a) On or before July 1, 2026, the commission shall establish renewable energy sources
and renewable energy portfolio standard goals for electric service providers to reach on an
annual basis. Such goals shall not exceed 20 percent of annual net electricity sales for each
electric service provider. In developing the renewable energy sources and renewable
energy portfolio standard goals, the commission shall evaluate current and forecasted
levelized costs in cents per kilowatt hour for all electric service providers through 2030 and
current and forecasted installed capacity in kilowatts for each renewable energy generation
method for all electric service providers through 2050.
(b) Electric service providers are encouraged to meet and maintain the renewable energy
sources and renewable energy portfolio standard goals established pursuant to
subsection (a) of this Code section.
46-3-69.8.
On or before July 1, 2026, the commission shall adopt rules and regulations to carry out the
provisions of this part. Such rules and regulations shall, at a minimum:
(1) Provide for a reporting system to monitor voluntary compliance with this part. Such
reporting system shall require electric service providers to report whether they are subject
to energy portfolio requirements in more than one state and the amount of such
requirements, if applicable, and to indicate the sources of energy used to voluntarily
comply with the renewable energy sources and renewable energy portfolio standard goals
established pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 46-3-46.7 and the requirements
of other applicable states; and
(2) Provide for annual reporting by all electric service providers of renewable energy
usage, how the generation costs of renewable energy compare to costs from other
generation sources, and the average price paid for the sources of the renewable energy
produced."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 46-3A-1, relating to definitions relative to
integrated resource planning, by revising paragraph (7) as follows:
"(7) 'Plan' means an integrated resource plan which contains the utility's electric demand
and energy forecast for at least a 20 year period, contains the utility's program for meeting
the requirements shown in its forecast in an economical and reliable manner, contains the
utility's analysis of all capacity resource options, including both demand-side and
supply-side options, and sets forth the utility's assumptions and conclusions with respect
to the effect of each capacity resource option on the future cost and reliability of electric
service. The plan shall also:
(A) Contain the size and type of facilities which are expected to be owned or operated
in whole or in part by such utility and the construction of which is expected to
commence during the ensuing ten years or such longer period as the commission deems
necessary and shall identify all existing facilities intended to be removed from service
during such period or upon completion of such construction;
(B) Contain practical alternatives to the fuel type and method of generation of the
proposed electric generating facilities and set forth in detail the reasons for selecting the
fuel type and method of generation;
(C) Contain a statement of the estimated impact of proposed and alternative generating
plants on the environment and the means by which potential adverse impacts will be
avoided or minimized;
(D) Indicate in detail the projected demand for electric energy for a 20 year period and
the basis for determining the projected demand;
(E) Describe the utility's relationship to other utilities in regional associations, power
pools, and networks;
(F) Identify and describe all major research projects and programs which will continue
or commence in the succeeding three years and set forth the reasons for selecting
specific areas of research;
(G) Identify and describe existing and planned programs and policies to discourage
inefficient and excessive power use;
(H) Identify and describe existing and planned renewable energy resources, if any,
used by the utility and whether such existing and planned renewable energy resources
are sufficient to comply with the renewable energy sources and renewable energy
portfolio standard goals established pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section
46-3-46.7; and
(H)(I) Provide any other information as may be required by the commission."
SECTION 3.
Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, is amended
in Code Section 50-23-4, relating to definitions relative to the Georgia Environmental
Finance Authority, by revising paragraphs (5) and (6) and adding a new paragraph to read
as follows:
"(5) 'Environmental facilities' means any projects, structures, and other real or personal
property acquired, rehabilitated, constructed, or planned:
(A) For the purposes of supplying, distributing, and treating water and diverting,
channeling, or controlling water flow and head including, but not limited to, surface or
ground water, canals, reservoirs, channels, basins, dams, aqueducts, standpipes,
penstocks, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping stations, water distribution systems,
compensating reservoirs, intake stations, waterworks or sources of water supply, wells,
purification or filtration plants or other treatment plants and works, connections, water
meters, mechanical equipment, electric generating equipment, rights of flowage or
division and other plant structures, equipment, conveyances, real or personal property
or rights therein and appurtenances, furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto
necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, conveyance, distribution,
pumping, treatment, storing, or disposing of water;
(B) For the purposes of collecting, treating, or disposing of sewage including, but not
limited to, main, trunk, intercepting, connecting, lateral, outlet, or other sewers, outfall,
pumping stations, treatment and disposal plants, ground water rechange basins,
backflow prevention devices, sludge dewatering or disposal equipment and facilities,
clarifiers, filters, phosphorus removal equipment and other plants, soil absorption
systems, innovative systems or equipment, structures, equipment, vehicles,
conveyances, real or personal property or rights therein, and appurtenances thereto
necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, conveyance, pumping, treatment,
neutralization, storing, and disposing of sewage;
(C) For the purposes of collecting, treating, recycling, composting, or disposing of
solid waste, including, but not limited to, trucks, dumpsters, intermediate reception
stations or facilities, transfer stations, incinerators, shredders, treatment plants, landfills,
landfill equipment, barrels, binders, barges, alternative technologies and other plant
structures, equipment, conveyances, improvements, real or personal property or rights
therein, and appurtenances, furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto necessary or
useful and convenient for the collection, treatment, or disposal of solid waste; or
(D) For the purposes of carrying out a community land conservation project or a state
land conservation project pursuant to Chapter 22 of Title 36; or
(E) For the purposes of generating, storing, and transmitting renewable energy, as such
term is defined in Code Section 46-3-69.6, including, but not limited to, generation
facilities, battery storage facilities, electric transformers, transmission lines, equipment,
vehicles, conveyances, real or personal property or rights therein and appurtenances,
furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto necessary or useful and convenient for the
generation, storing, and transmitting of such renewable energy.
(6) 'Environmental services' means the provision, collectively or individually, of water
facilities, sewerage facilities, solid waste facilities, renewable energy facilities,
community land conservation projects or state land conservation projects pursuant to
Chapter 22 Title 36, or management services."
"(12.1) 'Renewable energy facility' means any environmental facility described in
subparagraph (E) of paragraph (5) of this Code section."
SECTION 4.
Said title is further amended in subsection (b) of Code Section 50-23-5, relating to purpose,
powers, and duties, by striking "and" at the end of paragraph (33), by striking the period and
inserting in lieu thereof "; and" at the end of subparagraph (J) of paragraph (34), and by
adding a new paragraph to read as follows:
"(35) To promulgate and adopt rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this
chapter."
SECTION 5.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 50-23-12, relating to personal liability of
members, officers, and employees of the authority, by revising paragraph (2) as follows:
"(2) The construction, ownership, maintenance, or operation of any solid waste system,
sewerage system, renewable energy system, environmental facility, or water system
owned by a local government; or"
SECTION 6.
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.
House Bill 402 would direct Georgia's Public Service Commission to set voluntary renewable energy goals for utilities and let the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority help finance renewable energy projects.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia currently has no statewide renewable energy portfolio standard for electric utilities. This bill would require the Public Service Commission to establish, by July 1, 2026, renewable energy source goals for electric service providers (investor-owned utilities, electric membership corporations, and municipal electric providers) capped at 20 percent of each provider's annual net electricity sales. The commission would study current and forecasted costs and capacity for renewable generation before setting the goals, and providers would be 'encouraged' but not legally required to meet them.
The bill also requires utilities to describe existing and planned renewable energy resources in their long-term integrated resource plans, and it updates definitions used by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority so that agency can finance, own, or help build renewable energy generation, storage, and transmission facilities, similar to how it already handles water and sewer projects. It sets up a reporting system so utilities disclose their renewable energy use and costs, and it defines terms like biomass material, low impact hydropower, and renewable energy sources for use across these programs.
### What it does
- Requires the Public Service Commission to set renewable energy portfolio goals for electric utilities by July 1, 2026, capped at 20 percent of each provider's annual electricity sales.
- Makes meeting those renewable energy goals voluntary rather than mandatory, since the bill only 'encourages' providers to meet them.
- Adds a requirement that utility integrated resource plans describe existing and planned renewable energy resources and whether they meet the new goals.
- Authorizes the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to finance, build, and operate renewable energy generation, battery storage, and transmission facilities.
- Creates new legal definitions for terms like biomass material, low impact hydropower, and renewable energy sources used throughout the new law.
- Requires the commission to adopt rules for annual reporting on renewable energy usage, costs, and pricing by electric service providers.
### Who it affects
Electric utilities, electric membership corporations, and municipal electric providers operating in Georgia; the Public Service Commission, which must set goals and rules; the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, which gains new financing powers; and Georgia electricity customers whose rates and generation mix could be affected.
### Why it matters
If enacted, Georgia utilities would face state-set renewable energy targets for the first time, though compliance would be voluntary, and a state authority could help finance new solar, wind, or storage projects, potentially shaping how the state's electricity is generated and priced in coming decades.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 adds a new Part 6 to Title 46 creating O.C.G.A. § 46-3-69.5 through 46-3-69.8, stating legislative intent, defining renewable energy terms, and requiring the commission to set voluntary renewable portfolio goals by July 1, 2026, capped at 20 percent of sales.
- Section 1 also requires the commission to adopt rules by July 1, 2026 for a voluntary compliance reporting system and annual public reporting on renewable energy usage and costs.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 46-3A-1 to require integrated resource plans to describe existing and planned renewable energy resources and whether they meet the new portfolio goals.
- Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 50-23-4 to expand the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority's definition of 'environmental facilities' to include renewable energy generation, storage, and transmission projects.
- Section 4 adds a new power letting the authority adopt rules and regulations to carry out its expanded chapter duties.
- Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 50-23-12 to extend personal liability protections for authority officers and employees to cover renewable energy systems owned by local governments.
- Section 6 repeals conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-11)
- Last action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (2025-02-13)
- Sponsors: Spencer Frye, Eric Bell, Karla Drenner, Gabriel Sanchez, Miriam Paris, Samuel Park
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70204
> The history, votes, and amendments (179 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb402.md?full=1