If you’ve ever driven through the quiet, rolling landscape of Lamar County and spotted a massive industrial plume against the Georgia sky, you’ve likely seen the Piedmont Green Power Barnesville GA facility. It’s one of those places people talk about at the local diner—partly because it’s a huge employer and partly because its existence is a bit of a lightning rod for debate.
Basically, it’s a 55-megawatt biomass-fired power plant. But "biomass" is a fancy word that masks a much simpler, grittier reality: it eats wood. A lot of it.
What Actually Goes on Inside Piedmont Green Power?
At its core, this facility is a giant furnace attached to a steam turbine. It doesn't burn coal or gas. Instead, it gobbles up about 600,000 tons of woody biomass every year. Most of that is what the industry calls "urban wood waste"—think of the debris from tree trimming, old pallets, and logging leftovers that would otherwise just rot in a landfill or be left to decay on a forest floor.
The tech is pretty standard but impressive in scale. They use a fluidized-bed gasification process. Essentially, they heat the wood until it releases gases, then burn those gases to boil water. The steam spins a turbine, and voilà: electricity. It’s been doing this since April 2013, pumping out enough juice to power roughly 40,000 homes.
The Big Business Shuffle: Who Owns It Now?
For a long time, the plant was under the umbrella of Atlantic Power & Utilities. But things changed recently. In January 2024, a sustainability-focused investment firm called Pacolet Milliken swooped in and bought the whole thing.
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Pacolet is based in Greenville, South Carolina, and they’ve been aggressively building what they call a "waste-to-value" portfolio. They see this plant as a long-term anchor. Honestly, it makes sense from a business perspective. The plant has a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Georgia Power. That means for the next several years, the revenue is largely guaranteed because the state's biggest utility is legally obligated to buy the energy.
Is It Actually "Green"? (The Controversy)
This is where things get sticky. If you ask the owners, Piedmont Green Power Barnesville GA is a beacon of renewable energy. It helps Georgia meet renewable standards and provides "baseload" power—meaning it runs 24/7, unlike solar panels that stop working when the sun goes down.
But environmental groups haven't always been fans. Back in 2015, the Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) actually petitioned the EPA to pull the plant's operating permit. They argued that "clean wood" is a bit of a myth. Their claim? That burning wood actually emits more CO2 at the smokestack than coal per unit of energy produced.
"Piedmont Green Power was sold to the community as being 'clean and green,' but our review of emissions data found it’s actually a big polluter," Mary Booth, director of PFPI, famously stated during the permit challenge.
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The EPA eventually looked into it. While they didn't shut the plant down, the debate highlighted a massive loophole in how we define "renewable." If you burn a tree, the carbon it spent 50 years soaking up is released in seconds. The industry argues that planting new trees offsets this, but critics say the "carbon debt" takes decades to pay back.
Why It Matters to Barnesville
Politics aside, for the City of Barnesville, this plant was a massive "Deal of the Year" win when it was first announced. It didn't just bring 27 full-time, high-paying jobs to the facility itself. It created an entire ecosystem.
Think about the truckers. You’ve got roughly 100 additional positions tied to fuel processing and delivery. That’s a lot of diesel being bought and a lot of sandwiches being sold at local gas stations. It’s the first tenant of the Legacy Business Park, and it put Barnesville on the map for industrial development.
The Stats That Matter (2025-2026 Data)
If you're into the hard numbers, here’s how the plant stacks up recently:
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- Net Generation: Around 406.3 GWh annually.
- National Rank: It’s often ranked as the #2 wood waste power plant in the entire U.S. for total annual net generation.
- Fuel Mix: Roughly 99.8% wood waste solids.
- Water Usage: It uses about 1.2 million gallons of "gray water" (reclaimed water) daily, which is actually a pretty smart way to keep from draining local freshwater sources.
What’s Next for the Facility?
The 2024 acquisition by Pacolet Milliken signals that the plant isn't going anywhere. They are looking to tighten up operational efficiency and lean into the "Renewable Energy Credits" (RECs) market. As Georgia's population explodes and the demand for "green" power increases—partly driven by the massive new EV and battery plants opening across the state—facilities like Piedmont become more valuable.
Whether you see it as a climate solution or a clever way to rebrand wood-burning, the plant is a permanent fixture of the regional economy. It's a complex machine in a complex town.
Moving Forward: Actionable Insights
If you’re a local resident, a business owner in the supply chain, or just someone curious about the energy grid, keep these points in mind:
- Monitor Local Air Quality: Since the plant is a "synthetic minor" source for some pollutants, residents often keep an eye on the Georgia EPD’s public disclosure portal for any emissions spikes.
- Supply Chain Opportunities: If you work in forestry or land clearing within a 75-mile radius of Barnesville, the plant remains one of the most consistent buyers of wood chips and logging residues.
- Career Paths: For those looking for technical roles, the shift to Pacolet Milliken ownership often leads to new hiring cycles in maintenance, electrical engineering, and logistics management.
The story of Piedmont Green Power Barnesville GA is really the story of the modern South trying to balance old-school industry with a new-school "green" mandate. It's loud, it's big, and it's definitely not going away.