Under a deal approved Tuesday by the Georgia Public Service Commission, Georgia Power性视界传媒檚 rates will stay the same for the next three years, though customers' bills could still rise next year. John McCosh/Georgia Recorder
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After six bill increases in the last three years, Georgia Power rates will now stay the same for the time being.聽
Under a deal approved Tuesday by the Georgia Public Service Commission, Georgia Power性视界传媒檚 rates will stay the same for the next three years, though the deal does not include some costs, which could still cause bills to increase next year.
性视界传媒淭he rate freeze resulting from this plan is a great result for customers,性视界传媒 Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene said in a statement, 性视界传媒渂alancing the mutual benefits of extraordinary economic growth among all stakeholders and helping to ensure that we remain equipped to continue supporting growth in this state.性视界传媒澛
Under the agreement reached by Georgia Power and the commission性视界传媒檚 staff and later cosigned by the Georgia Association of Manufacturers and Utility Management Services, the base rates that help determine power bills will remain the same for three years 性视界传媒 except for the cost of recovering from Hurricane Helene, the most damaging storm in Georgia Power性视界传媒檚 history.聽
Georgia Power is also scheduled to review the cost of fuels such as coal and natural gas next year, which could also drive bills up 性视界传媒 though company officials said lower fuel prices could lead to lower bills, or at least cancel out extra costs from Helene.聽
性视界传媒淐ustomers have seen unprecedented inflation in the energy sector across the U.S.,性视界传媒 said commission chair Jason Shaw in a statement. 性视界传媒淢y fellow Commissioners and I urged staff and Georgia Power to come to some agreement where base rates would not increase. This is nothing but good news for Georgia Power ratepayers.性视界传媒澛
Some critics were less certain. The rate freeze deal bypasses the typically intensive, months-long process of setting rates, during which interested parties 性视界传媒 including energy and consumer advocates, municipalities, large power users like MARTA and Walmart and even the federal government 性视界传媒 comb through Georgia Power性视界传媒檚 finances and proposals. Without those hearings, some have argued, it性视界传媒檚 impossible to know if the rate freeze is the best possible deal for customers.
性视界传媒淓very day Georgians cannot be on the hook for Georgia Power性视界传媒檚 data center spending spree,性视界传媒 said Bob Sherrier, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a statement. 性视界传媒淭he next three years are very consequential for the electric grid and deserve much more scrutiny than occurred here.性视界传媒澛犅
Critics of the deal also worried that 性视界传媒渞ate freeze性视界传媒 is a misnomer because of the adjustment for storm costs that will happen next year. Others raised concerns that by deferring costs to keep rates the same now, the plan will result in an even larger rate hike in 2028.聽
Georgia Power officials in hearings last week. They argued that lower fuel costs could balance out the storm costs, leaving rates the same or even lower, and that savings from cost deferrals would extend beyond the next three years.
Commissioner Bubba McDonald objected to the current power rates 性视界传媒 the rates now being extended 性视界传媒 when they were approved in 2022 because he felt Georgia Power性视界传媒檚 profits were set too high. He reiterated that objection Tuesday and proposed a motion to lower the utility性视界传媒檚 profit cap, but no other commissioners seconded the proposal and it died without a vote.
In the end, McDonald joined his fellow commissioners in voting for the rate freeze, and it passed unanimously.聽
