Environmental groups and consumer advocates will present their side to state regulators in Georgia Power’s latest request for a rate increase.
Georgia Power executives spent several days in September explaining to members of the Georgia Public Service Commission the utility giant's need for a nearly 12 percent rate increase over the next three years. What has today's speakers especially worried, however, is what is not officially at stake in the current hearings.
Besides the requested hike in base rates, Georgia Power is expected to ask the PSC for three other increases over roughly the next year to recover higher fuel costs and the expense of bringing into service two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.
If the PSC votes next month to approve the full increase in base rates Georgia Power is seeking, the average residential customer’s bill would go up by $16.29 a month starting January 1, 2023.