Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: I'm pleased to say that I'm joined now by Republican
Speaker 2: Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, Governor. It's so nice to
Speaker 2: see you here in Las Vegas. You're normally in Atlanta.
Speaker 2: I'm normally in Washington, but we both find ourselves here
Speaker 2: on the sidelines of an energy conference because the idea
Speaker 2: of electricity demand tie to data centers has become a
Speaker 2: nationwide issue and we wanted to talk to you today
Speaker 2: because Georgia is one of the fastest growing markets when
Speaker 2: it comes to data centers, and I'm curious, how prepared
Speaker 2: is your electric grid for this influx in demand.
Speaker 3: Well, we're very prepared.
Speaker 4: We got a great story to tell in Georgia, and
Speaker 4: it's not just for data centers, but also large load
Speaker 4: customers like the new Hyundai metaplant. Marty and I were
Speaker 4: there yesterday rolling the first new Sportage Kia Sportage Hybrid
Speaker 4: off of the line, so they're a huge power user.
Speaker 4: So we're not only ramping up our power supply for
Speaker 4: data centers, but also for large load customers, also making
Speaker 4: sure we take care of all our residential and other
Speaker 4: small business customers in Georgia, and we have a great
Speaker 4: story to tell. Our rates are dropping and our generations
Speaker 4: going up.
Speaker 2: But a big part of this demand is coming from
Speaker 2: data center. Is because Southern Company, which owns and operates
Speaker 2: Georgia Power, is estimating that power is expected to dump
Speaker 2: ten to eight to ten percent annually, driven solely by
Speaker 2: the AI build out. What can you share about how
Speaker 2: you are helping to keep rates down when you have
Speaker 2: these big tech companies that are coming in and there
Speaker 2: is this risk to consumers, Well.
Speaker 4: We're charging the big tech companies more. I mean, we've
Speaker 4: got a great rate structure in Georgia. Our Public Service Commission,
Speaker 4: the Georgia General Assembly, along with our power producers like
Speaker 4: Georgia Power, have put a structure in that as we
Speaker 4: build the generation out, they're going to do that by
Speaker 4: half of what they have now just in the next
Speaker 4: you know, less than ten years, which is pretty incredible
Speaker 4: that a state can do that to meet the demands
Speaker 4: of its customers, but also making them pay for that
Speaker 4: build out and tying that into rates long term.
Speaker 3: It's actually allowed.
Speaker 4: Georgia Power a year or so ago to freeze residential
Speaker 4: rates for three years in Georgia. Since then, they've actually
Speaker 4: dropped residential rates by a few dollars a month, and
Speaker 4: in the future they're going to be giving money back
Speaker 4: to the rate payers as this build out continues. So
Speaker 4: it's really unlike any other model in the country where
Speaker 4: you have other states, other markets where rates are going
Speaker 4: up anywhere from fifteen to thirty percent. And for us,
Speaker 4: that's a great economic advantage for us to sell the
Speaker 4: state saying, come, we have clean energy with Vogel three
Speaker 4: and four online now a lot of solar, we can
Speaker 4: meet your needs. But also your cost is going to
Speaker 4: be as good as anywhere in the country.
Speaker 2: I'm glad that you brought up that reate freeze because
Speaker 2: they wanted to ask you about it because Georgia Power
Speaker 2: received one of the largest federal energy loans in history.
Speaker 2: It was twenty two billion dollars. But repairs are going
Speaker 2: to be on the hook to pay that loan back. Great,
Speaker 2: So should Georgia consider extending that rate for you?
Speaker 3: It's no.
Speaker 4: Well, they've actually done away with the rate freeze now
Speaker 4: and or lowering rates. So you know there was a
Speaker 4: rate freeze. Now they've gone back and said hey, because
Speaker 4: of the business that we have come and the way
Speaker 4: we've structured the deals, we're now going to be able
Speaker 4: to lower rates by I can't remembers five or six
Speaker 4: dollars a month per customer from the residential side. And
Speaker 4: then in the future with even more of this coming
Speaker 4: also large load customers. Like I mentioned the Hyundai metaplant,
Speaker 4: the Ribean plant's going to come online. We have other
Speaker 4: big manufacturers that are coming to our state, producing great
Speaker 4: paying jobs with great benefits, bringing economic prosperity to all
Speaker 4: parts of our state. They're actually going to be able
Speaker 4: to lower rates and return money to the taxpayer.
Speaker 3: I know that is hard to believe because that.
Speaker 4: Is not happening anywhere else in the rest of the country,
Speaker 4: which is why our story is so compelling.
Speaker 2: Well, part of this is also coming into the politics
Speaker 2: of the state. We're seeing it in the gubernatorial racer
Speaker 2: term limit. But we have the Democratic candidate Keisha Lance
Speaker 2: Bottoms advocating that we should see a freezing construction when
Speaker 2: it comes to this. Has any party for.
Speaker 4: That's just an insane position to take, because you know,
Speaker 4: I was down in Early County, Georgia. It's one of
Speaker 4: the poorest counties in the United States of America, and
Speaker 4: they as soon as I got out of the car,
Speaker 4: were coming to me, going, please help us with our
Speaker 4: data center. We want to build a data center here.
Speaker 4: We know that will provide good paying jobs for our
Speaker 4: community because they just had a sawmill that shut down,
Speaker 4: and they know that it'll be good for helping them
Speaker 4: reduce property taxes like they're doing in Columbia County. Now,
Speaker 4: I'm not saying we need to put a data center
Speaker 4: in every community. We certainly don't need to be pushing
Speaker 4: them in communities where the local governments and the people
Speaker 4: don't want it. But there are many places around the
Speaker 4: state where people do want it, and that's where we
Speaker 4: need to work with them. So I think it's irresponsible
Speaker 4: for Keisha Lance Bottoms to say freeze construction. I mean,
Speaker 4: we're the number one state in the country for business.
Speaker 4: We're producing jobs in all parts of our state, and
Speaker 4: that is my goal that I'm going to continue to
Speaker 4: work on as long as i'm if.
Speaker 2: We broaden this out to beyond electricity prices energy prices
Speaker 2: in general. Yesterday in Georgia we saw that suspension of
Speaker 2: the state gas task expire. There's so much emphasis on
Speaker 2: this these days due to the ongoing conflict in Iran,
Speaker 2: which at this point we still don't have a resolution to.
Speaker 2: Why was now the right moment to let that suspension last.
Speaker 4: Well, it's very expensive doing the gas tax suspension because
Speaker 4: we have to take money out of the state's reserve
Speaker 4: fund to put back into our road fund so we
Speaker 4: don't lose the ability to keep up our roads, bridges,
Speaker 4: paving roads for local communities, and doing projects that are
Speaker 4: very important to the state.
Speaker 3: So we couldn't do that forever.
Speaker 4: You know, I appreciate the General Assembly passing that bill
Speaker 4: during the legislative session. We extended it to get past
Speaker 4: the holiday weekend. And look, I'm like everybody else. I
Speaker 4: hope the conflict gets resolved sooner rather than later. And
Speaker 4: I believe that, you know, motor fuel and decent fuel
Speaker 4: prices will will drop. But if you look at what
Speaker 4: the state has been doing for affordability, you mean, at
Speaker 4: the same time we suspended the gas tax, he also
Speaker 4: had us given two hundred and fifty dollars rebates income
Speaker 4: tax rebates to everybody that paid taxes last year, five
Speaker 4: hundred dollars for a family. We've got a billion dollars
Speaker 4: of property tax or leaf coming to the citizens of
Speaker 4: our state.
Speaker 3: So we've been dealing.
Speaker 1: With affordability for the last four years.
Speaker 4: This is a fourth year in a row we've done
Speaker 4: a income tax rebate. We've cut the income tax both
Speaker 4: corporate and personal again this year, fourth year in a row,
Speaker 4: we did no tax on tips, tax on overtime. And
Speaker 4: so you know, we wanted to help with the motor
Speaker 4: fuel situation to get people into the summer and help
Speaker 4: our school districts and other small businesses get past the
Speaker 4: holiday weekend.
Speaker 2: But we are gearing up for some of the busiest
Speaker 2: driving time in this country. I can say I did
Speaker 2: ask President Trump last week if the federal government is
Speaker 2: still considering a federal gas tax holiday. It seems to
Speaker 2: be something that's still on the table. But the look
Speaker 2: at states like Georgia sort of as a template here
Speaker 2: on what would really work. Do you think that at
Speaker 2: the federal level that's.
Speaker 4: Something worth I think, you know, we're in a completely
Speaker 4: different situation in the federal government.
Speaker 3: We have to balance our budget.
Speaker 4: If you look at like a lot of the blu
Speaker 4: run states with democratic governors, they're not in a position
Speaker 4: to do this because they don't have the money to
Speaker 4: replace it. That's going into a dedicated motor fuel fund
Speaker 4: to help keep red roads, pay bridges built.
Speaker 1: And keep up with congestion demand in the state.
Speaker 4: We've been very fortunate because we've budgeted conservatively, we had
Speaker 4: a robust rainy day fund, and we were able to
Speaker 4: offset the money that we're you know, exempting for the tax.
Speaker 4: The federal government certainly doesn't have the money to do that,
Speaker 4: which I think is where some of the pushback that
Speaker 4: has come. So it's really been a testament to our state,
Speaker 4: to the leadership that we've had in our state to
Speaker 4: be able to even do this as much as we have,
Speaker 4: and we've done this for several years now. We've returned
Speaker 4: or saved taxpayers over twelve billion dollars just since we
Speaker 4: came out of COVID in the state of Georgia. There's
Speaker 4: not many states that can say per capital person that
Speaker 4: amount of savings or refunds like we've done in Georgia.
Speaker 4: And this because we've had good leadership, not just from
Speaker 4: the governor's office, but from the General Assembly. And that's
Speaker 4: what this election is all about. You know, you've got
Speaker 4: Keisha Lance Bottoms wanting to put moratoriums on growth and
Speaker 4: business and driving our economy, and we're doing things.
Speaker 1: Like this to help people with affordability.
Speaker 2: Well, since you brought up politics in the final minutes,
Speaker 2: I have you I have a few questions on that. Yes,
Speaker 2: on the gubernatorial race, but also there's a key runoff
Speaker 2: next week when it comes to the Senate seat. Do
Speaker 2: you think Republicans are positioned well right now in order
Speaker 2: to retain the majorities in Congress and given all of
Speaker 2: these headwinds that we're seeing around the affordable affordability issues
Speaker 2: that you yourself are talking about.
Speaker 4: Well, I think there's no doubt this is a challenging
Speaker 4: political environment, and it always is for any you know,
Speaker 4: majority party in the second term of a presidential administration,
Speaker 4: whether it's Donald Trump or anybody else. But I feel
Speaker 4: very optimistic because of the thing, at least in Georgia anyway,
Speaker 4: because of the things that we've been able to do
Speaker 4: in our state, the policies that we can run on
Speaker 4: and remind people of things that we've pushed and that
Speaker 4: we have done, and also what we're going to do
Speaker 4: in the future.
Speaker 3: I feel very optimistic.
Speaker 4: I also feel optimistic about you know, getting one of
Speaker 4: our Senate seats back. I'm working hard for Derek Dooley,
Speaker 4: who I've endorsed to be our nominee because I think
Speaker 4: he's the best person that can can beat John oss
Speaker 4: Off and keep the majority of the US Senate. But
Speaker 4: I also think Republicans got to get on offense. We
Speaker 4: cannot continue to be on defense. We need to be
Speaker 4: on offense about what's in the Working Families tax Credit,
Speaker 4: all the good policies that Trump administration is doing, and
Speaker 4: not let the other side dictate what the political debate's
Speaker 4: going to be if.
Speaker 2: Derek Duley doesn't win that nomination, do you think Republicans
Speaker 2: should be spending their resources. I will swear to help
Speaker 2: boost other senateces across the country so that they can
Speaker 2: bertin the Senate majority.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't want to speak for any other you know,
Speaker 4: national groups and what they might do, but I know.
Speaker 3: That our political groups will.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm going to be supporting our Republican nominees.
Speaker 3: We have to win. In Georgia.
Speaker 1: We have a lot of state. We've had a great.
Speaker 4: Twenty year run when you think about our former Governor
Speaker 4: Sonny Purdue, Governor Nathan Dial my administration, and we need.
Speaker 3: To keep report.
Speaker 4: There's such a stark contrast between the Democrats and the
Speaker 4: Republicans and the kind of leadership that you would see
Speaker 4: in the Governor's office and in the US Senate, and
Speaker 4: so you know, I'm certainly going to be all in
Speaker 4: no matter what happens.
Speaker 2: So this is for twenty twenty six. Last question for you, Governor,
Speaker 2: your term limited. Should we expect you to stay in
Speaker 2: public life after your term is over? I'm wondering if
Speaker 2: you have a time.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's a great question. I'll have to come back
Speaker 3: and answer later.
Speaker 4: My focus is on helping Derek Dooley when the US
Speaker 4: Senate run off, and then after we get that done,
Speaker 4: I'll be able to think about other things.
Speaker 2: But do you have any timeline on if you're going
Speaker 2: to make a decision about twenty twelve.
Speaker 4: I mean, I still got to serve till you know,
Speaker 4: the first part of twenty twenty seven in this role,
Speaker 4: which it is very busy, and that is what my
Speaker 4: folk were. My focus is going to be and also
Speaker 4: helping make sure that our ticket win in November. That
Speaker 4: is our number one priority, all right.
Speaker 2: Republican and Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp Governor, thank you
Speaker 2: so much for spending time with us today here on
Speaker 2: Bloomberg Television and radio.