In the fall of 2025, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved Georgia Power’s latest Integrated Resource Plan, or IRP. The IRP is the utility’s long term roadmap for meeting projected electricity demand. It determines what kinds of power plants will be built, how much infrastructure will be added to the grid, and ultimately what customers will pay. This most recent plan was shaped heavily by one dominant factor: an unprecedented surge in projected electricity demand driven largely by data center expansion across the state.

Georgia Power told regulators that it expects rapid load growth in the coming years, much of it tied to new and proposed data centers. To meet that demand, the utility proposed adding thousands of megawatts of new generation. 

As a part of its social justice speaker series, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Atlanta, GA, hosted an Encounter GA advocacy workshop. The workshop, hosted on September 28th, focused on nonpartisan advocacy strategies for individuals, families, and parish communities interested in responding to Pope Francis’s call in Laudato Si’ to care for creation.

The workshop provides a brief overview of Catholic Social Teaching and scriptural teachings on the environment, and then invites participants to explore how they might respond using the See-Judge-Act model for social change.

The EPA’s move to rescind the Endangerment Finding isn’t just a policy shift — it’s a moral failure. In Georgia and beyond, communities face rising seas, dangerous heat, and worsening air quality. Catholic Social Teaching and Popes Leo and Francis remind us that caring for creation and protecting the vulnerable are sacred duties. We must oppose this rollback and stand together for justice, science, and the common good. Sign the petition today.