Georgia Power and Google have announced a partnership aimed at expanding nuclear energy capacity in Georgia while delivering approximately $900m in projected benefits to utility customers. Under this subscription-based agreement, Google will support Extended Power Uprates (EPUs) on Georgia Power’s owned shares of the nuclear reactors at the Vogtle NPP in Waynesboro and the Edwin I Hatch NPP in Baxley.
Units 1&2 at Vogtle are pressurised water reactors that began operation in the late 1980s and are licensed to operate until the mid-2040s. Units 3&4 are AP1000 pressurised water reactors that were connected to the grid in 2023 and 2024. Hatch hosts two boiling water reactors that entered service in the 1970s and are cleared to operate until the mid-2050s.
Rather than building entirely new reactors, the project involves upgrading existing equipment such as turbines, pumps, motors, and cooling systems. These uprates will unlock approximately 96 MWe of new capacity on the Georgia electric grid. Google will subscribe to a new Nuclear Uprate (NU-1) tariff structure. In exchange for its financial backing, Google will receive zero-emission energy credits to meet its aggressive data centre clean energy goals.
However, neither Hatch nor Vogtle belongs entirely to Georgia Power. Instead, they are jointly owned by a consortium of four regional utilities. Georgia Power holds 50.1% of Hatch (1&2) with the rest held by held Oglethorpe Power (30%), MEAG Power (17.7%), Dalton Utilities (2.2%). Vogtle holds 45.7% of Vogtle with the rest held by Oglethorpe Power (30%), MEAG Power (22.7%), Dalton Utilities (1.6%).
Georgia Power only has the right to upgrade and sell the electricity generated from its own percentage of the facilities. The total 96 MWe of new capacity unlocked by this deal represents only Georgia Power’s portion of the uprates. Isolated Financials: Google’s NU-1 tariff subscription covers the capital costs for Georgia Power’s share of the equipment modifications. The other co-owners (like Oglethorpe or MEAG Power) are independent and can decide separately whether they want to fund uprates for their own shares or sell that extra capacity to other buyers.
The subscription framework is specifically structured to shield non-participating everyday customers from the incremental capital costs of the uprate modifications. Instead, they absorb the $900m in economic relief over the operational lifetime of the nuclear units. The deal is not yet finalised. It has been officially submitted across Dockets 44280 and 56002 and remains subject to approval by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC).
While the uprates for Vogtle (units 1&2) received prior approval during a 2025 Integrated Resource Plan filing, the Hatch uprates and the overall commercial framework with Google are awaiting the commission’s green light.
“Many of our large customers have specific clean energy goals, and we continue to work with the Georgia PSC to create programs that not only help them meet their goals, but align with our Customer Protection Pledge, enhancing the reliability and resiliency of the power grid and creating savings for all customers,” said Aaron Mitchell, Senior Vice President of Strategic Growth for Georgia Power. “We appreciate Google’s continued leadership in this space and partnership in developing this programme, which we see as the latest example of how large-load growth can benefit all electric customers.”
Lucia Tian, Director for Advanced Energy Technologies at Google, noted: “Google data centres are long-term investments in the communities we call home, catalysing local economic development and accelerating clean energy deployment. They also serve as a proof point for how we can unlock the significant opportunity to bring online new nuclear power through expanding the capacity of the existing nuclear fleet. This collaboration with Georgia Power ensures that digital infrastructure growth goes hand-in-hand with positive local impact, helping to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in direct customer benefits and supporting a more affordable, clean, and reliable energy system for all Georgia residents.”
Google has signed several other major agreements in the US to secure long-term nuclear power as part of its strategy to power its AI and cloud data centres with 24/7 carbon-free energy. These agreements include investments in both traditional nuclear power expansions and next-generation reactor technology:
- October 2024: Google signed its initial Master Plant Development Agreement with Kairos Power to deploy a 500 MW fleet of advanced small modular reactors (SMRs).
- May 2025: Google announced a strategic agreement providing early-stage capital to Elementl Power to pre-position and prepare three US sites for future 600 MWe advanced nuclear projects.
- June 2025: Google signed a 200 MWe Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Commonwealth Fusion Systems for electricity from their first commercial fusion plant.
- August 2025: Building on their 2024 framework, Google, Kairos Power, and the Tennessee Valley Authority announced a three-party PPA to supply 50 MW from the upcoming Hermes 2 reactor to Google’s regional data centres.
- October 2025: Google signed the 25-year PPA with NextEra Energy to buy power from the Iowa nuclear plant, committing the long-term demand required to justify reopening the facility
