Georgia Power rates to jump another 12% on June 1

Many of Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers, who are already adjusting to the 2.5% rate increase that hit consumer bills in January, will need to brace for an additional 12% increase that will take effect next week, on June 1. The increase will add roughly $16 to the average residential customer’s monthly bill.

Additional rate increases have also been approved that will allow Georgia Power to begin passing on the costs of the new Plant Vogtle units. Those increases will go into effect after the units become operational.

During public hearings held by the Georgia Public Service Commission prior to its vote to approve the requested rate hike, staff members noted that the three rate hikes approved for Georgia Power since 2020 could bump an average customer’s monthly bill by $55 to $60 per month – a 45% increase.

2023 Fuel Cost Recovery Rate Increase

On May 17, the five-member Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved Georgia Power’s 2023 Fuel Cost Recovery Request that will net the company $6.6 billion.

The request, filed by Georgia Power in February of this year, asked for the rate increase in order to recover expenditures related to price increases for the natural gas and coal used to generate the company’s end-product electricity. The rate increase will allow the company to recoup $2.1 billion in unrecovered fuel costs from the past two years, as well as $4.4 billion for projected fuel expenses for the next three years.

While the company’s original filing in February estimated a $23-per-month increase for a typical residential customer using 1,000-kilowatt hours, that figure was lowered to a $15.94-per-month increase due to adjustments to projected future fuel costs.

The PSC’s decision did stipulate that the fuel portion of the discount available for income-qualified senior citizens increase from $6 per month to $9.50 per month; this is in addition to the base-rate $24 discount for qualified seniors.

2022 Rate Increase 

In December 2022, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved Georgia Power’s request for a three-year step-increase rate hike that took effect January 1. The rate  hike increased an average residential customer’s rate by approximately 2.8%, or $3.60 per month, in 2023, with an approximate 4.5% increase slated for 2024, and another 4.5% increase to take effect in 2025.  An “average” customer is considered to be a customer who uses 1,0000 kilowatt hours per month – prior to the approved 2022 rate increase, that average customer paid approximately $128 to $136 per month.

Over the three-year period, this rate increase is expected to net the company $1.8 billion – 40% less than originally requested by the utility company. According to Georgia Power’s request filing, the rate increase will help fund company goals such as strengthening the electric grid, utilizing clean and more economical ways to generate power, investing in renewables and cleaner energy resources, and investing in technology to enhance customer service, such as a new Customer Information System.

Vogtle-related increases

The Georgia Public Service Commission has already approved future Georgia Power rate increases that are tied to two additional nuclear reactors at Vogtle that are currently under construction at the plant south of Augusta. The rate hikes will go into effect when Vogtle’s Unit 3 and Unit 4 begin generating electricity.  An approximate $4 per month increase is slated to go into effect when Unit 3 goes online, and a larger increase is approved for implementation following the completion of Unit 4.

The addition of the two new reactors at Plant Vogtle originally carried an estimated cost of $14 billion, with completion of Reactor 3 planned for 2016, and Reactor 4 to go online in 2017. Cost overruns and delays have ratcheted up the budget to more than $26 billion. The latest data from Georgia Power shows Unit 3 scheduled to be active in the next few months, with Unit 4 going online in March 2024.

GEORGIA POWER

2.7 million customers (2.3 million residential)

407,784 Northeast Georgia Region,

374,665 Southeast Georgia Region,

1,519.151 Northwest Georgia Region,

373,326 Southwest Georgia Region

Residential sales make up 39.8% of company revenues, followed by commercial (34.8%), industrial (16.1%), wholesale (2%) and other (7.3%)

Average annual residential use:12,033 kilowatt hours

Average price for residential customers: 13.22 cents per kilowatt-hour

Georgia Power data shows the company shut off powder to 10% of its residential customers in 2022 due to nonpayment.

Georgia Power corporate records show reported profits of $3.5 billion, or $3.28 per share, for 2022.

A Public Service Commission energy rate comparison chart is available on the psc.ga.gov website.