AMERICUS — Kyle Leach was the featured speaker at the 16th annual Economic Outlook Luncheon Tuesday, sponsored the Georgia Southwestern State University Students in Free Enterprise, the GSW Center for Business and Economic Development, the Americus-Sumter County Chamber of Commerce, and the Americus Rotary Club.

Leach is director of Resource Policy and Planning for the Georgia Power Co., and has worked with Southern Company for 31 years. He is currently responsible for the company’s integrated resource planning, generation development and procurement, and contract administration.

He was previously director of Federal Regulatory Affairs in Southern Company’s Washington, D.C., office where he served as liaison between Southern Company and the Federal Regulatoroy Commission.

A graduate of Auburn University, Leach holds a degree in civil engineering.

Leach was introduced by a friend and colleague, Mike Donnelly, area manager, Georgia Power Co.

Leach explained that Georgia Power studies the economy because of its impact on planning.

“We meld what’s happening with the economic outlook with what’s happening in energy policy, all to ensure that the company has the most reliable, cost effective portfolio of resources for our customers,” he said.

On Tuesday, during Leach’s visit to Americus, Georgia Power was still two days away from the historic license approval for two new nuclear power units at Plant Vogtle at Waynesboro.

The Georgia Public Service Commission voted on Thursday to approve the licensure on those units.

Georgia Power President and CEO Paul Bowers, said in published reports, "The governor and lieutenant governor of Georgia, the Public Service Commission and members of Georgia's General Assembly had the vision and foresight to make bold decisions to help ensure a secure energy and economic future for the state. The new Vogtle units will provide our customers and the communities we serve with clean, affordable, reliable energy.

"Our communities and our country will benefit from this more than $14 billion investment, representing 4,000 to 5,000 jobs on site during peak construction, and in the process creating over 25,000 direct and indirect jobs by this project alone.”

Plant Vogtle 3 and 4  is the f”irst significant nuclear new build in about 25 years,” according to Leach.

Georgia Power is partnering with Oglethorpe Power and MEAG and the City of Dalton on this project and expects Unit 3 to begin operating in 2016,                                                                                                              and Unit 4 in 2017.

Leach gave an overview of the economic picture in Georgia in his presentation at Georgia Southwestern State University Tuesday.

“This recession has been somewhat atypical of what we normally expect to see in Georgia. Generally through all the good growth years of the ‘80s, the ‘90s and the first part of the 2000s, whenever Georgia would go through a recession, we would have a little shallower recession than the rest of the country, and we spring back more quickly than the rest of the country,” he said.

Not the case this time, however.

Leach’s presentation showed a “peak to trough” decline of 7.1 percent of in Georgia’s economy between first quarter 2006 to third quarter 2011, versus the national drop of 5.1 percent.

“This is the first time in recent memory that Georgia has suffered more than the national picture,” he commented.

The same applies to the jobs picture. Leach said there were 71,000 construction jobs lost during the period and 131,000 in manufacturing, all in Georgia.

Employment rates dropped 8.2 percent in Georgia, 6.2 nationally. He said industrial, as gauged by kilowatt hours, is “doing well, producing more but not necessarly hiring.”

“Residential and commercial is where we’ve really struggled,” he said.

Employment is growing in the areas of hospitals, government,education and health, Leach said.

“Overall it shows a slow but sure economic growth,” he said. “Georgia is seeing stronger growth and will eventually overtake the national level this year and next year. But we’re still not seeing that big bump in employment, though for the near term we’re seeing a steady erosion of that unemployment rate hopefully.”

Looking ahead to economic prospects, Leach said national energy policy has a strong correlation to how the economy is going.

He said the Southern Company and Georgia Power need all the resources: renewables, fossil fuels, shale gas, etc.

“National energy policy is currently in gridlock,” he said. “ ... especially now we’re in an election year ... You’re not seeing any significant legislation coming out of Congress ... When Congress doesn’t act, the regulatory bodies step in to fill the vacuum.

Leach pointed out that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is moving “very aggressively” on the Clean Air Act and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is working toward policy that could have “significant impact on how we do business and how it impacts our customers at the end of the day.” He said Georgia Power will be “actively engaged in those debates at the federal level and the state level.”

“We will strive to protect all our interests to make sure our rates stay affordable,” he said.

Leach commented on the EPA “train wreck” which includes ifve major pieces of regulation between 2011-2018, dealing with air quality coming out of coal-fire energy plants, cooling water, coal combustion biproducts, etc.

“We anticipate $13 billion to $18 billion in additional investment to comply with the rules,” he said, “and we anticipate a very significant increase in electricity prices, a 25 percent increase between now and 2020 and the potential loss of some 250,000 to 500,000 jobs.”

Leach explained that as the new rules and regulations are rolled in and Georgia Powers starts “very significant construction projects to comply with these regulations,” the company will retire some coal plants and convert to natural gas or some other type of resource.

“We anticipate running into the reliability issues,” he cautioned. “Keeping the lights on will be a continuing challenge.”

Leach said Georgia Power has a “very good” relationship with the Georgia Public Service Commission.

“They want to support the state as being a good place to do business,” he said.

Georgia Power has several items before the PSC, including retiring coal--fired Plant McDonough and replacing three units to natural gas.

“This will make it one of the most efficient plants in the country,” Leach said, representing a 90 percent reduction in  mercury and other gases and a 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide. All three units are expected to be online by the end of 2012. Plant Mitchell, located in Albany, is to be converted to biomass (plant materials).