(The Center Square) – South Georgia’s reliance on a single natural gas pipeline is a hindrance to economic development, the CEO of the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce told a committee in the state House of Representatives.
Coffee County is at the end of a natural gas line that runs from Alabama through southwest Georgia.
“So we’re relying on one piece of pipe that comes all the way across that 60-plus mile space to feed our natural gas for the city, for our industry, for everything,” said Matt Seale, CEO of the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce. “That pipe was put in the ground many, many years ago, in the 1950s or early ’60s and all the growth has taken up that capacity over the 60 years and now we need to expand that capacity.”
A new pet food plant in Coffee County invested $130 million and created 75 jobs for the local economy. But it required all the excess capacity, what little was left, on that pipeline, Seale said.
“If somebody else came right now and said, ‘I’d like to invest $130 million, I’d like to creat 75 jobs and I need this much gas,’ I can’t say yes to that,” he said.
The shortage not only affects Coffee County, but also the surrounding counties of Ben Hill, Irwin, Tift, Turner and Worth.
The General Assembly passed two bills during the 2025 session addressing the situation, Seale said. One bill makes natural gas projects eligible for low-interest loans and grants from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
The other bill created the South Georgia Energy Authority, which includes the cities of Ashburn, Douglas, Fitzgerald, Ocilla and Tifton. Seale chairs that board, which held its first meeting on July 22.
Early estimates to increase natural gas capacity by replacing four and six-inch pipes with 10-inch pipes are around $130 million.
“That’s not something we would expect to do all at once,” Seale said. “This is going to be a multi-year, multi-phase approach.”
A compression station or storage solution is another option that would cost about $3 million, Seale said.
“We certainly do want manufacturers and any other business to consider locating in rural Georgia,” said House Rural Development Committee Chairwoman Leesa Hagan, R-Vidalia. “You’ve done a really good job here of explaining to us whey access to natural gas plays such a huge part in looking at us favorably in rural Georgia.”
