yes i feel they would do good in more northern states where theres a slight die-off so the fish can get some extra food before the winter. But that would annoy me because you would have to re-stock every year to get the same population you had the year before. But i feel they could add benefits with little risks in certain conditions and certain species of tilapia but personally i would not risk it due to the fact that there expensive and Could overpopulate a pond i spend a long time working on
Fishkeeper - Rainman is definitely a resident expert on Tilapia - I'd encourage you to contact him and learn more.
As for fears of TP establishing year round in your pond in GA, not sure it's something to worry about unless your water temps exceed 54 degrees year round[is that right, Rex?] . Anything approaching this temp is lethal to TP. with that in mind you have a built in failsafe and might be worth a small stocking to see how things go for you?