City still waiting on Yonah water withdrawal agreement from Georgia Power

With an end-of-year deadline looming, the City of Toccoa is still waiting for documents from Georgia Power to finalize the city’s water withdrawal permit from Lake Yonah for the coming year. 

As previously reported by WNEG News, Georgia Power recently advised city officials that Toccoa’s 6 million gallons per day, or MGD, permit – which historically has run the city between $6,000 and $7,000 per year, – will now cost $167,000 per year – beginning with a payment due by the end of this year.  

Early this month, City Commissioners made the official decision to retain the city’s 6 MGD Permit, paying the $167,000 permit fee, and City Manager Freda Wheeler advised Georgia Power of the decision. However, as of yesterday, Dec. 18, Georgia Power has yet to provide the necessary documents for Toccoa officials to sign to finalize the 6 MGD permit, despite Georgia Power’s own Dec. 31 deadline. 

WNEG News sat down with Wheeler yesterday to ask about the status of the permit, and to talk about the history of the city’s water utility and the rate increase. 

She said that she spoke with Georgia Power representatives earlier in the day, and they had advised her that their attorney was out, and said they assured her that, if their delay caused the agreement to be completed past the Dec. 31 deadline, they would backdate the agreement. 

Wheeler gave a brief history of Toccoa’s investment in the city’s water utility, crediting city leaders many years ago with the foresight to place Toccoa as a regional water provider. 

 

Part of Toccoa’s ability to position itself, now and in the future, as a regional water provide, is its permit from Georgia Power for the Yonah withdrawal, which the city uses very little of each year, but retaining the permit is important, wheeler said, explaining that if we release that permit, it is unlikely we would ever get it back.

In addition, the city has spend significant amount of money to install the infrastructure to transport water from Lake Yonah to Davidson Creek, and then to Toccoa Lake, and Wheeler said that, if the city drops the withdrawal permit, we would be required, with very little time leeway, to remove that infrastructure, at a significant cost to the city

She said that the rate increase from Georgia Power was completely unexpected, and that Georgia Power’s explanation for the increase was minimal. 

Wheeler said she has talked with staff and officials from surrounding communities, and no other community has been issued anything but minor rate increases from Georgia Power.

With only two options provided by Georgia Power – to pay the increased permit fee for the 6MGD permit, or lower our permit to a smaller reserved amount of water

The timing of the increase seems to coincide with recent efforts in the region to form a Regional Water Authority, which Stephens County was not invited to be a part of or attend meetings about the plan. The purpose of the Authority would be to function as a regional water supplier, withdrawing water from Lake Hartwell and selling it, essentially providing competition to Toccoa’s water utility sales in the region. 

Although the Authority is not yet officially formed, as it would need congressional approval from the Georgia General Assembly, talk with entities involved in the proposed group suggests that there are plans for the Authority to withdraw millions of gallons of water per day from Lake Hartwell

 

If Toccoa released its 6 MGD withdrawal permit from Lake Yonah, it could theoretically add 6 MGD to the amount the Authority could withdraw from Lake Hartwell, as there is a regional cap of water that can be taken from area water sources, Wheeler explained.

Wheeler said she has spoken with Georgia State Representative Chris Irwin, who said he would look more into the matter, and that she is hoping to speak with both Irwin, and Georgia State Senator Bo Hatchett at the Pre-Legislative Breakfast in February. 

Regarding the city’s increase in water rates, Wheeler again stressed that the increase is solely to pay for the Georgia Power increase and will not be used for any other purpose, such as improvements to the water system or upgrades at the water treatment plant. 

She said that funding for those necessary improvements and upgrades will still have to be addressed, but said that other options besides further rate increases are being looked at, such as a SPLOST fund.

She said that, even with the $2 rate increase, Toccoa water customers pay less than residents in surrounding counties.

WNEG News will continue to look into the rate increase from Georgia Power, and the possible formation of a nearby Regional Water Authority.