Unless PSC acts to protect consumers, we will be paying more for power 

Georgians should hold on because you are about to be taken for another costly ride if the Public Service Commission does not take action to protect you from Georgia Power and its unrelenting price increases.

Consumers can expect their utility bills to jump $17 to $23 a month starting June 1 because Georgia Power and Georgia Public Service Commission staff have reached a tentative agreement to raise customers’ rates dramatically to cover the cost of the coal, gas, and nuclear fuel Georgia Power uses in its power plants. 

Georgia Power filed a “fuel cost recovery” request back on February 28 and appears likely to receive most of what it requested based on papers filed on Thursday. Georgia Power’s latest request seeks to make customers responsible for $2.1 billion to $2.6 billion of their business costs, which will be collected through rate increases on the backs of ratepayers.

Under this week’s new agreement, Georgia Power and PSC’s regulatory staff have come to a consensus to shave $7 million off the $2,6 billion the company is seeking to collect from unsuspecting Georgians. With Georgia customers already forced to pay some of the steepest electric bills in the nation, according to federal data, this reduction of $7 million, which equals less than 1% of the company’s total request, will do little to assist struggling customers including working families, seniors, or veterans. 

The five-member PSC, an elected body that regulates the utility, will have the final say on whether to approve the rate increase or adjust it further. Hearings on the company’s fuel request will begin in early May and the commission is set to take a final vote on the new rates on May 16. The terms of two of its members, Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols, expired at the end of 2022, yet they remain in their positions and continue to make bad decisions that hurt ratepayers. Voters have contacted the courts demanding that they draw new PSC lines so that the elections can resume and voters can elect pro-consumer candidates to the PSC.

Larger and more costly rate increases will take effect in both 2024 and 2025. The monthly impact of those increases is unknown, which leaves Georgians as sitting ducks for Georgia Power to shake consumers down for more.

Despite environmental groups and consumer advocates criticizing the PSC for not doing enough to tamp down electricity costs, Georgia Power returns each time asking for more increases. Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center said, “The Public Service Commission can do more to help customers and we hope that they will.”

Consumers can expect more rate hikes later this year to pay for the cost of the two new nuclear reactors nearing completion at Plant Vogtle and which are more than five years behind schedule.