Have you ever filled up with premium gasoline at the pump? I do it regularly despite it costing more. I do it because of improved fuel economy and the long-term benefits to my vehicle’s fuel injection system — avoiding future repairs. That same dynamic happens when Georgia diversifies energy fuel sources.
Biomass energy is like the premium fuel of our day. It allows us to use for additional reliable power homegrown wood residuals that would otherwise be burned or sent to a landfill. We might pay a little more, but the benefits for our electric system and our state are worth it.
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The Georgia Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved three biomass contracts at paper and pulp mills in South Georgia. These contracts are somewhat more expensive than coal or gas but represent only a tiny fraction of our total generation — yet they are very important to our state. Here’s why.
Georgia is a top forestry state — and a “major player known for sustainable forestry practices,” according to Valerie Reed with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technology Office. Pine trees grow for decades, get harvested and, finally, replanted. Just like crops. The pine tree is a treasure trove of resources — in making lumber, paper, filters, cartons, turpentine, rosin, oils, wood tars, ethanol and even everyday products such as toothpaste and shampoo. All of the tree can be used.
When that tall, straight tree is hauled away, the “logging slash” (limbs and tops of trees) remains on the ground. Without our PSC action, all harvested materials not taken from the field are burned or left to rot. They cause fugitive emissions from their decay and release methane, carbon dioxide and particulates as they are burned in piles. The contracts we just approved allow this “logging slash,” along with tree bark and sawdust from mills, to be recovered and used for power — bolstering the power grid with new electricity. The cost associated with getting this material to mills could be prohibitive — without this program. Georgia landowners will benefit by the opening of new markets for this previously unused debris harvesting.
Rural economic development is top of mind for many in our state — especially for our governor and rural legislators who are tasked with improving life outside of bustling metro Atlanta. If you drive through the more forested parts of our state, you quickly see that good jobs are often hard to find. Approving a long-term contract for biomass energy ensures that entrepreneurs who own logging equipment have three decades of work to do. They become part of the energy ecosystem, bringing a local fuel, namely wood debris, to a plant owned by companies like WestRock, Georgia Pacific, Graphic Packaging, International Paper or RYAM. That energy goes right back onto the Georgia Power grid, too — providing needed reliability for everyone.
Cost is no doubt a factor, but it isn’t the only factor. With the Vogtle nuclear energy plant, it was a bankruptcy of Westinghouse that drove up the projected low cost at the beginning of the project. The war in Ukraine caused natural gas prices to skyrocket for a moment and triggered a big surcharge on power bills. Who knows what pitfalls await us in the future. So, when I see an opportunity to acquire additional megawatts from a fuel locally sourced and that benefits rural Georgia entrepreneurs trying to make a living, well, I grab it. We have done this with solar and battery storage — giving us a measure of energy independence when coupled with our nuclear reactors — and now with this new biomass energy.
Opponents of this measure are concerned with burning wood, but, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission, we are growing 48% more timber volume than we are harvesting. The trees we are planting now grow faster than the trees we planted 40 years ago because of improved genetics. And using every part of every tree helps ensure healthy and sustainable forests that eat CO2 all day and all night — benefiting our air quality. Georgia is also the home of LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines which is the nation’s first refinery for turning ethanol alcohol to sustainable aviation fuel.
We all have a lot to be proud of in Georgia, and our infrastructure is like a magnet drawing more economic prosperity to our state: our ports, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the reliable grid anchored by a nuclear plant no one thought we could finish, Kia and Hyundai car plants, winning sports teams, Fintech, our universities, and even world class athletic facilities such as Augusta National and the Benz. No wonder people want to move to Georgia, and they are going to keep coming.
The pioneering legislators of our state created an energy commission elected by all the people of Georgia — not just ratepayers of a single utility. That reality reminds me daily that my job as a constitutional officer of the state requires me to think beyond just current energy trends, or what California might be doing, or even the traditional metric of cost. My priority is reliability — from the power line outside your house to the unseen infrastructure all the way back to the power plant. I take this job seriously, and I know my four colleagues do as well. Let’s keep Georgia moving forward.
Tim Echols is vice-chair of the elected Public Service Commission in Georgia.
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