{"id":67588,"date":"2023-05-19T08:28:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T12:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitol-beat.org\/?p=10131"},"modified":"2023-05-19T08:28:34","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T12:28:34","slug":"georgia-energy-officials-went-along-with-georgia-powers-15-90-rate-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/?p=67588","title":{"rendered":"Georgia energy officials went along with Georgia Power’s $15.90 rate hike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The state Public Service Commission (PSC) Tuesday unanimously approved a fuel costs recovery plan submitted by Georgia Power that will increase the average residential customer\u2019s bill by $15.90 per month<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rate hike, which takes effect next month, was the product of an agreement between the Atlanta-based utility and the PSC\u2019s Public Interest Advocacy staff that will let Georgia recover 100% of $2.1 billion in higher fuel costs it has incurred during the last two years from its customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commissioner Lauren \u201cBubba\u201d McDonald blamed higher natural gas prices that are beyond the commission\u2019s control. He said the Green New Deal pushed by the Biden administration is responsible for driving up both gasoline and natural gas prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a recent hearing, McDonald argued that state law requires the commission to let Georgia Power recover higher fuel costs as a pass-through. The company does not earn any profit from higher fuel expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe owe the bill, and we\u2019ve got to pay it,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representatives of environmental and consumer advocacy groups that appeared before the commission in recent weeks asked the PSC to reject Georgia Power\u2019s fuel costs recovery plan in favor of the utility stepping up its use of solar and other forms of renewable energy in generating electricity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen bills jump next month, the most vulnerable Georgians are going to have to make unthinkable choices about how to spend their income,\u201d Jennifer Whitfield, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said following Tuesday\u2019s vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe commission\u2019s approach to this moment \u2013 giving the utility everything it wants while leaving the majority of its customers to struggle with higher monthly bills \u2013 is unacceptable. Georgia Power shouldn\u2019t be pocketing billions in record profits while also putting customers in the position of choosing between power and basic needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commission Chair Tricia Pridemore proposed an amendment to further increase the higher fuel discount Georgia Power offers income-eligible seniors from $8 per month in the utility\u2019s proposal to $9.50, bringing it to total of $33.50 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fuel costs recovery increase is one of several Georgia Power has already received in recent months or is poised to seek in the months ahead. The PSC approved a $1.8 billion increase last December that increased the average residential bill by $3.60 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rates are expected to go up again later this year or early next year when Georgia Power brings into service the first of two new nuclear reactors being built at Plant Vogtle south of Augusta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[mailerlite_form form_id=11]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2013 The state Public Service Commission (PSC) Tuesday unanimously approved a fuel costs recovery plan submitted by Georgia Power that will increase the average residential customer\u2019s bill by $15.90 per month. The rate hike, which takes effect next month, was the product of an agreement between the Atlanta-based utility and the PSC\u2019s Public Interest [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10932],"tags":[8479,12132,12168],"class_list":["post-67588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-representing-you","tag-georgia-power","tag-public-service-commission","tag-state","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}