The Dalton, Ga., City Council recently approved a resolution authorizing public power utility Dalton Utilities (DU) to proceed with a proposal to issue revenue bonds to finance the construction of a new power plant.
Resolution 26-04 was approved by a unanimous 3-0 vote of the City Council following a discussion of the measure with Dalton Utilities CEO John Thomas.
The resolution authorizes the city-owned utility company to move forward with a plan to issue debt to finance construction of a new electricity generation plant.
The facility would be a 56.8-megawatt natural gas-powered plant built on property already owned by DU.
The resolution calls for the debt to not exceed $130 million and also includes a clause that up to $30 of that budget can be prepaid once construction is completed if the project budget comes in less than that $130 million projection.
The resolution is not a final authorization for the issuing of revenue bonds, and the bond ordinance would need to be amended before closing on the revenue bonds.
The debt will be issued as tax-exempt, private placement bonds through Regions Bank. Closing is expected in either April or May of 2026.
Once constructed, the proposed power plant would allow DU to produce some of its own electricity and purchase less of its electricity from other entities.
Thomas told the Council that Dalton Utilities estimates approximately $1.5 million in savings each year over the first ten years of the plant's lifetime, even while still repaying the debt from its construction, a summary of the meeting posted on the City of Dalton's website noted.
Thomas told the Council that nearly half of DU's power has come from the wholesale market, and adding to DU's own generation portfolio will allow the utility to have more long-term control over costs.
When asked by Councilmember Dennis Mock if the new plant was being considered because of data centers that could be built in the area, Thomas said no.
"We've been very transparent with our data center customers that we're not going to invest long-term in infrastructure like this, to serve them," Thomas said. "That's going to be an investment they're going to have to be a partner in... this (plant) is going to support capacity that we use to serve residential, commercial, and industrial customers."
Councilmember Tyree Goodlett pointed out that DU should let their customers know if any rate increases on their bills would be caused by the debt issue or the construction of the new plant. Thomas said that rates would not be increased by the project.
"When I was mentioning the savings (over the first ten years of the new plant's life) over the market price, this is an opportunity to mitigate potential increases in the future. Not to say that rates would go down, but it helps reduce the impact of what the market's doing, long-term," Thomas said.
