HB1063: HB1063 Electric utilities; protect residential and retail electricity customers from costs associated with data center construction and operation; require

Large data centers can require utilities to build significant new power infrastructure, and lawmakers are concerned that ordinary households and small businesses could end up paying for that construction through their electric bills. This bill targets that concern by adding a new part to Georgia's utility law (O.C.G.A. Title 46, Chapter 3). It applies to data centers with a peak annual electricity demand of 100 megawatts or greater. Any contract between an electric utility and such a data center must include terms protecting residential and retail customers, such as minimum billing requirements, contract lengths that can exceed normal tariffs, credit protections in case of default, and termination protections. These requirements would apply only to contracts entered into after the law takes effect, and the Georgia Public Service Commission would oversee compliance under its existing jurisdiction.

• Defines a 'data center' as a facility or group of facilities using at least 100 megawatts of peak annual electricity demand.
• Requires every contract between an electric utility and a qualifying data center to include terms protecting residential and retail customers from construction and operation costs.
• Mandates minimum billing requirements in these contracts so utilities can recover costs tied to serving or preparing to serve a data center.
• Allows contract terms to run longer than the utility's normal service tariff and requires performance, credit, and termination protections for retail customers.
• Limits the new requirements to data center contracts signed on or after the law's effective date.
• Gives the Georgia Public Service Commission authority to enforce and determine compliance with these new rules.

Electric utilities operating in Georgia, large data center operators and the businesses that build or lease them, and residential and other retail electricity customers whose bills could otherwise absorb costs from data center construction and operation.

If data centers require costly new power plants, lines, or upgrades, this bill aims to keep those costs tied to the data centers themselves rather than spread across everyday electric bills, potentially shielding households and small businesses from rate increases linked to large-scale data center growth.

• New Code Section 46-3-80 defines 'data center' as a facility or group of facilities with 100 megawatts or greater peak annual electricity demand.
• New Code Section 46-3-81 requires utility contracts with data centers to include minimum billing requirements, extended contract terms, credit and performance protections, and termination protections for retail customers.
• New Code Section 46-3-82 applies these requirements only to data center agreements entered into on or after the Act's effective date, not existing contracts.
• New Code Section 46-3-83 places enforcement and compliance determinations under the Georgia Public Service Commission's existing jurisdiction (O.C.G.A. § 46-2-20).
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting state laws.

1. 2026-02-18Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-17House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2026-02-17House Third Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-06House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2026-02-02House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
6. 2026-02-02House Second Readers (House)
7. 2026-01-29House First Readers (House)
8. 2026-01-28House Hopper (House)

• Brad Thomas (R, HD-021)Primary sponsor
• Jon Burns (R, HD-159)
• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)
• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 2, 2026

   122 yea, 9 nay (38 not voting, 6 absent)

   Move From Eu&t To Scrm: House Vote #470

2. PassedHouse voteFebruary 17, 2026

   157 yea, 5 nay (4 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #517

• electric utility regulation
• data centers
• electricity rates
• utility contracts
• Georgia Public Service Commission