Georgia’s governor says more clean energy will be needed to fuel electric vehicle manufacturing
ATLANTA– Georgia, an electric vehicle manufacturing capital, must increase the supply of electricity produced without burning fossil fuels to meet industry demand for clean energy, Governor Brian Kemp told world business leaders on Thursday.
Speaking as part of a panel focused on electric vehicles at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Republican governor highlighted the construction of Georgia Power’s two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta — the nation’s first new reactors in decades .
“We’ve done as much as anyone in the country … but we’re going to have to do more,” Kemp said, although he did not call for the closure of current power plants that burn coal, natural gas or oil.
It is the second year in a row that Kemp has visited the forum of business and political leaders from around the world. He told The Associated Press in Davos on Thursday that the trip is aimed at “basically just selling the state from an economic development point of view.”
That includes marketing the electricity produced at Plant Vogtle. One of the reactors in the $31 billion project is generating power, while the other is expected to become commercially operational in the coming months.
“We’re letting people know that we have a great airport, a great seaport and a great energy supply with our two nuclear reactors that are online and coming online,” Kemp said.
Fellow members of Kemp’s panel said electric vehicles should be made with electricity that is not produced by burning coal, oil or natural gas that emits carbon dioxide that warms the planet. Zeng Yuqun, founder and chairman of Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL, said a “dirty battery,” or one produced with high CO2 emissions, is “a big problem.”
“That’s why I’m very quick to look for sustainability in all of this,” said Zeng, one of China’s richest people.
Kemp, who said Georgia is “well on its way” to achieving its goal of being the “e-mobility capital of the world,” said he is hearing the need for clean energy from companies like Hyundai Motor Group and Rivian Automotive.
“When we talk to the companies that we’re recruiting, people that are looking at the state, they clearly want to produce with clean energy,” Kemp said.
It’s another example of how Kemp has shied away from tackling climate change directly but welcomed some changes in the name of corporate recruitment.
The governor said he would look at the Georgia Power Co. electric utility. and its Atlanta-based parent company, Southern Co., to meet these clean energy needs. But environmentalists have panned a current request by Georgia Power to increase generation capacity, largely using fossil fuels.
Kemp told the AP that he remains confident in his efforts to recruit electric vehicle manufacturers despite a slowdown in electric vehicle sales in the United States. He blamed a law backed by President Joe Biden that included big incentives for buying American-made electric vehicles, saying it “tried to push the market too fast.”
“I think the market is resetting a little bit now,” Kemp said. “But I don’t think this will affect the suppliers in Georgia; everyone is still very optimistic about what is happening in Georgia. And so am I.”
Kemp told the panel that the biggest challenge in moving toward electric vehicles in Georgia is ensuring manufacturers and their suppliers can hire enough workers.
“That’s the most important thing for us: making sure we have enough staff,” Kemp said.
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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed from Davos, Switzerland.