Vote next month of proposed Georgia Power rate increase

ATLANTA - With household budgets already bursting at the seams due to inflation, Georgia Power customers are looking at yet another increase in what they pay for power starting this summer if a newly proposed plan passes in May.

On top of a 2.5-percent rate hike the Georgia Public Service Commission approved in January, customers will pay about $15.90 more a month starting in June. The average monthly residential bill would jump from around $131.60 to $147.50.

"These are very tough decisions, these are tough times, one commission member said during Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Officials with the utility company cited an increase in the cost of natural gas and coal used to generate electricity for its 2.7-million customers in its initial request for a $2-billion rate increase.

Initial figures showed an increase per month anywhere from $17 to $23. The utility provider already has increases of 4.5 percent set for 2024 and 2025. 

"When the increase goes up, lights go out…summer is approaching," Chatam County resident Tamika Simmons told commissioners Monday. "$10, $20, $30 can really, really put some folks in the dark."

Georgia Power says more recent figures on natural gas prices have lowered the estimated bill impact by a few dollars. Ricky Leroux with the Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental group, says that burden should not be placed solely on customers.

"Georgia power is passing 100 percent of fuel costs onto customers. They don’t have any risk. They don’t pay any fuel costs at all," Leroux told FOX 5. "Most families in Georgia are struggling with higher prices due to inflation, and we think that adding this burden onto them when they’re already paying some of the highest utility bills in the country…is just unfair."

With the rate hike inevitable, Leroux is encouraging residents to reach out to members of the Georgia Public Service Commission who have the final say on increases to share their concerns.

The five-member elected commission is scheduled to vote on the proposed fuel charges on May 16. 

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