ATLANTA — The Georgia Public Service Commission and Georgia Power reached a tentative agreement Monday to keep rates frozen for the next three years.
The commission has to vote on it to finalize the agreement. If it passes, the base level of your power bills will not go up until 2028.
In a statement shared with Channel 2 Action News, a Georgia Power spokesman said the company remained committed to giving their customers clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy.
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“We are well-positioned to balance mutual benefits that are available as a result of the extraordinary economic growth taking place in our state,” John Kraft, at Georgia Power, said in part. “This stipulated agreement helps balance the affordability needs of our customers while ensuring Georgia Power remains equipped to continue its support of our state’s incredible growth – which is good for all of our stakeholders.”
Similarly, the Georgia Public Service Commission said that while the rate case in question was supposed to include the potential recovery of costs for damage from Hurricane Helene, that portion of the process has been delayed until 2026.
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The PSC is currently auditing Georgia Power’s storm damage expenses ahead of that stage of negotiations.
“This is a very big deal,” PSC Chairman Jason Shaw said in a statement. “Energy customers have seen unprecedented inflation in the energy sector across the U.S. My 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. I look forward to delving into the details of this agreement as we conduct our public hearings.”
While Georgia Power and the PSC commentary was positive about the new agreement regarding a power rate freeze for the next three years, the Southern Environmental Law Center took issue with the agreement being reached behind closed doors and shutting out residents, business owners and other advocates from the public process.
“In the agreement, Georgia Power claimed ‘rates’ will not ‘be adjusted,’ and yet rising fossil fuel costs (passed through directly to billpayers) and recovery costs from Hurricane Helene, guarantee residential and small business customers’ bills will climb as early as May of next year,” SELC said.
Additionally, the nonprofit said the “behind closed doors” agreement was not open and transparent as Georgia Power had previously promised, regarding Hurricane Helene costs and data center allocations.
“Commission staff has given away our hard-fought bill relief from data centers. Make no mistake: Bills for residential and small business customers will rise under this agreement,” Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney in SELC’s Georgia office said in a statement.
The agreement also touches on a growing source of large-load customers, data centers. It includes provisions to make sure they cover their costs and protect other customers from these costs.
A rule developed earlier this year makes data centers pay a different rate from other customers.
Any customers using more than 100 megawatts of energy can be billed beyond the standards of other customers in a bid to “address risks associated with these large-load users.”
Responding to the claims of a lack of transparency, Kraft said Georgia Power continued to work on keeping their energy products reliable and affordable for their customers.
“This stipulated agreement means no base rate increases for three years – that’s great news for every customer,“ Kraft told Channel 2 Action News. “Reaching this agreement is just the start of an open and transparent process, leading up to a vote by the Georgia PSC, which will include opportunities for comment and input from intervenors and the public.”
A schedule for public hearings on the agreement, which are required to be held before a vote by the five members of the PSC, will be discussed at Tuesdays commission meeting.
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