HB1320: HB1320 Public utilities; nuclear energy generation facilities in the integrated resource plan; provide

Georgia law requires electric utilities to periodically file an integrated resource plan (O.C.G.A. § 46-3A-2) with the Public Service Commission, laying out how they will meet future energy demand. As part of that review, the commission holds a public hearing and checks whether the plan adequately weighs the costs and benefits of various supply options, such as energy efficiency improvements, power pooling, and purchases from other states. This bill adds facilities that use nuclear energy to generate electricity to that list of supply options utilities must address. It does not create a new mandate to build nuclear plants; it simply inserts nuclear generation into the existing checklist the Public Service Commission uses when evaluating whether a utility's resource plan adequately considers the economic and environmental benefits of different power sources. The rest of the review process, including the filing schedule and hearing timelines, stays the same.

• Adds facilities that use nuclear energy to generate electricity to the list of supply sources a utility's integrated resource plan must address (O.C.G.A. § 46-3A-2).
• Keeps the existing requirement that utilities file an integrated resource plan with the Public Service Commission at least every three years.
• Leaves unchanged the commission's existing 60-day deadline to hold a public hearing on a filed plan and its 120-day deadline to approve a plan.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this change.

Electric utilities in Georgia that file integrated resource plans, the Georgia Public Service Commission, which reviews and approves those plans, and Georgia electricity customers whose rates and supply mix are shaped by the plans the commission approves.

By naming nuclear generation alongside efficiency, pooling, and alternative energy sources, the bill directs the Public Service Commission to specifically weigh nuclear power's costs and benefits when it reviews a utility's long-term energy plans, which could shape future decisions about Georgia's power supply.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 46-3A-2 to add 'Facilities which use nuclear energy to generate electricity' as a listed measure and source of supply the commission must consider adequate in a utility's plan.
• Section 1 keeps intact the existing filing schedule (at least every three years) and hearing process (public hearing within 60 days, commission decision within 120 days).
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause with no substantive effect beyond this bill's own changes.

1. 2026-02-25House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-02-19House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-18House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-17House Hopper (House)

• Don Parsons (R, HD-044)Primary sponsor
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• William Werkheiser (R, HD-157)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)

• nuclear energy
• public utilities
• energy policy
• Georgia Public Service Commission