The Energy Department on Wednesday closed a $26.5 billion loan package — the largest the department said it ever issued — to Georgia-based utility Southern Co. to pay for a suite of power projects in Georgia and Alabama.
The loan comes after the Trump administration canceled billions of dollars’ worth of financing DOE offered to renewable energy projects under former President Joe Biden. The money is to help Southern add electricity generation capacity as the White House is trying to show it is tackling higher energy costs plaguing voters.
The 30-year loan will finance 5 gigawatts of new natural gas generation and 6 gigawatts of nuclear uprates. It will also pay for hydropower modernization, new battery storage systems, and over 1,300 miles of transmission and grid improvement projects, DOE said.
DOE and Southern said the loan will lead to $7 billion in electricity savings for consumers, although they did not explain how it would help lower ratepayers’ bills. The money will also reduce Southern’s interest expenses by $300 million a year.
