EEA Database on Distributed Generation

WHAT'S NEW:

No recent state activity has been identified.

Boilers are exempted from permitting if they are below the following size limits:

Natural gas or fuel oil fired: 10 MMBtu/hour
Wood or fossil fuel fired: 5 MMBtu/hour
Any other type of fuel: 2.5 MMBtu/hour

There is no size exemption for engines used exclusively for emergency use. Units may also qualify for an exemption if they have a potential to emit less than the following:

NOx and VOC: 5 tons per year in a nonattainment area
NOx, PM, SO2 and VOC: 20 tons per year in attainment areas

Combustion turbines less than 100 kW are exempt.

MINOR SOURCE PERMITTING

Small turbines and boilers larger than 10 MMBtu/hr must stay below 30 ppm of NOx; turbines and engines used to generate electricity must stay below 80 ppm. These NOx limits apply May 1-Sept 30 of each year. There is also an opacity limit of 20% for fuel burning equipment with a six-minute period of 27% opacity allowed each hour. Fuel burning sources are also required to conduct an annual ‘tune-up’ to minimize NOx production, according to manufacturer guidelines.

There is a 30 day public comment period and the whole permitting process takes about 120 days.

There is a 14 day public comment period and the state has 90 additional days to issue the permit.

MAJOR NSR/PSD PERMITTING

A potential to emit 250 tons (100 tons for listed sources) per year of a criteria pollutant triggers PSD. In the nonattainment area a potential to emit 50 tons per year of NOx or VOCs triggers NSR.

TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY ENGINES

For the following counties, the unit’s potential to emit is calculated based on 200 hours of operation per year:

Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gordon, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Troup, Upson, and Walton

For the rest of the state, the unit's potential to emit is calculated based on 500 hours of operation per year. Units used primarily for emergency purposes can also be used for up to 200 hours of peaking operation and still qualify for the exemption.

SITING REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-UTILITY GENERATORS:

The Georgia Public Service Commission regulates only investor-owned utilities, and has no siting responsibility for any independent power producer, co-op, or municipal utility. The moratorium that was in effect previously on the permitting of electrical facilities has been removed.

BUILDING, ZONING AND FIRE CODES:

Building Codes: In 2007, Georgia adopted the 2006 IBC with 2007 state amendments as the statewide mandatory minimum building code. Local jurisdictions may enforce more stringent codes. These codes are amended annually or semi-annually.

Georgia Dept of Community Affairs-Construction Codes page

Energy Codes: In 2007, Georgia adopted the 2006 IECC with 2008 state supplements and amendments as the statewide mandatory minimum building code. Local jurisdictions may enforce more stringent codes. These codes are amended annually or semi-annually.

Fire Codes: In 2007, Georgia adopted the 2006 IFC with state amendments as the statewide mandatory minimum building code. Local jurisdictions may enforce more stringent codes. These codes are amended annually or semi-annually.

State Fire Marshall

Zoning: Zoning and planning typically happens at the local level. Check with each jurisdiction regarding their planning codes

Resources (information may not be as current as provided above)

A general overview of each state’s enacted codes can be found HERE.

The International Code Council Adoption page gives state-by-state adoption status of specific ICC codes, as well as information about code adoption by some municipal governments within that state.

Information about energy codes can be found at the DOE’s Building Codes for Energy Efficiency page or at the Building Codes Assistance Project

INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS:

Georgia has interconnection standards only for net-metered, photovoltaic, wind, or fuel cell generators with a maximum capacity of 10 kW for residential systems and 100 kW for commercial. Utilities do not have to interconnect customers beyond 0.2% of their peak load for the previous year. Customers wishing to interconnect must comply with all national standards - IEEE, UL, and NEC. The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) may adopt additional safety and interconnection requirements. An external disconnect device is not required, and utilities may not require additional tests or additional liability insurance. More information about the PSC interconnection procedures can be found here.

Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, has a green-power program which sells the power generated by eligible renewable-energy net-metered systems to other customers. The owners of the net-metered systems are compensated at a higher rate than other net-metered systems.

For more information on interconnection and net-metering standards contact your electric generation and distribution utility, the PSC, or the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Georgia Public Service Commission
244 Washington Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: (800) 282-5813
Phone 2: (404) 656-4501
Fax: (404) 656-2341
E-Mail:gapsc@psc.state.ga.us

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
427 Moreland Avenue NE, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30307
Rita Kilpatrick
Phone: (404) 659-5675
Fax: (770) 234-3909
E-Mail:kilpatrick@cleanenergy.org

EXIT FEES:

Information regarding exit fees is not currently available. Contact the Georgia Public Service Commission to confirm.

UTILITY STANDBY RATES:

Georgia does not have a statewide policy on standby rates. Utility policies are summarized below.

Georgia Power Co - Schedule BU-5: Standby service is provided only to qualifying facilities. The standby rate is primarily demand based with energy charges based on a declining block schedule. Billing demand is based on the maximum 30 minute demand of the month with a 12 month ratchet. Rate information is available at: http://www.georgiapower.com/pricing/gpc_rates.asp

Georgia

WHAT'S NEW:

AIR EMISSIONS REGULATIONS:

BUILDING, ZONING AND FIRE CODES:

For more information on interconnection and net-metering standards contact your electric generation and distribution utility, the PSC, or the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

EXIT FEES: