Georgia Power and Savannah Electric received 26 proposals from 10 different companies in response to its request for proposal for 1,200 megawatts of electricity to meet customer demand in 2009. All the bids combined reached a total of more than 8,000 megawatts of electricity.

The majority of the bids came from companies who propose operating natural gas units to generate electricity. There were also bids from companies who propose using coal and biomass units to generate electricity.

Most of the bids were in the 100- to 800-megawatt range, indicating that some combination of bids would be needed to meet the 1,200 megawatt request. Bids also ranged in duration to include 7-year, 15-year and 30-year proposals.

The majority of the generation was bid from within the footprint of Southern Company, Georgia Power’s and Savannah Electric’s parent.

“The number of companies bidding and the types of generation proposed is an indication that there is still a healthy, competitive wholesale generation market in the Southeast,” said Jeff Burleson, director of Georgia Power’s Resource Planning department.

The bids will be analyzed by the companies and an Independent Evaluator for the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to determine the viability of the projects from a generation and transmission standpoint, as well as to identify the low-cost bidders, according to Burleson. The next step will be to determine a short list of the best bids by Jan. 31, 2006.

Contracts for the winning bids will then be submitted May 1, 2006 for certification by the PSC. The new generation would need to be on line by June 1, 2009.