Georgia Power is flipping the switch on new deals to ramp up electricity generation and vows to give its customers a break on their bills, WABE reports. The company's execs claim the move to build and buy additional power—before they're usually slated to—is a play that'll lead to lower rates for those plugged into their service.
Aaron Abramovitz, the utility's CFO, spelled it out before the state's Public Service Commission saying, "We expect the revenues associated with energy sales to incremental large load customers will put downward pressure on rates for all customers," but here's the catch, the Georgia Power honchos have their eyes set on some old-school power sources like fossil fuels, raising some eco-eyebrows and customer advocates are calling timeout they're slamming the company's sidestepping of competitive practices, worrying that the move would crank up climate-change-inducing emissions—and possibly costs—in the long run.
While the company has promised to credit $615 million a year toward future rate calculations starting in 2029, Jennifer Whitfield, of the Southern Environmental Law Center, ripped into the plan, "This is a fossil fuel bonanza that skips the regulatory processes in place to protect billpayers," in a statement obtained by WABE. This comes as a desperately needed relief for customers who have been weathering a storm of spikes in their energy bills, now averaging about $157 a month, including taxes, a sharp up from the past due to natural gas costs and bucks behind the new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.
No immediate change in the rates is expected until 2026, but there’s always a "but"—Georgia Power admitted the possibility of requesting rate hikes down the road due to other business costs, Commissioner Tim Echols likened the financial credit of $615 million to "like money in the bank against a possible rate increase," but this doesn’t lock in current rates for good. The commission is on the clock to vote on this power play on April 16, these settlements usually holding major sway in their decisions.
Under this freshly inked deal, Georgia Power's snagging a slice of the energy pie from a gas plant in Florida and from Mississippi Power Co, they're also set to build a trio of turbines at Plant Yates which could gulp down natural gas or oil. Additionally, there's a bit of solar glimmer with bids for 500 megawatts of solar generation with battery storage, signaling at least a partial nod to cleaner energy.
