Georgia Public Service Commission Must Protect Ratepayers in Fuel Cost Hearings

ATLANTA - After two days of testimony from experts and advocates, it's clear the Georgia Public Service Commission must find new ways to protect ratepayers from excessive fuel costs incurred by Georgia Power.

In the hearing, three clean energy organizations urged the Commission to reform the way Georgia Power charges customers for the power plant fuel that forms a large part of customer bills.

In response, the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy released the following statements:

"Currently, 100% of fuel Georgia Power uses to generate energy is paid for by Georgian customers," said Adrien Webber, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director. "So Georgia Power has all the power over our fuel, but no financial incentive to choose the best, most affordable option. By implementing a fuel cost sharing mechanism, Georgia Power could share the burden of fuel costs while protecting Georgians from undue burden. We cannot allow Georgia Power to continue to pass on unlimited costs to customers."

"Georgia Power has gotten used to a PSC that rubber-stamped nearly everything it asked for while everyday Georgians got stuck paying higher bills," said Patrick King II, Policy Advocate with Natural Resources Defense Council . "Now even Commission Staff is warning that Georgia Power's Real Time Pricing, or RTP, structure - a special rate primarily used by massive energy users like data centers and large industrial customers - could be shifting costs onto everyone else. Staff is now recommending further investigation into whether residential and small business customers are unfairly subsidizing the fuel and system costs associated with serving this new wave of massive load growth."

"We discovered $152 million in excessive costs due to coal plants running at times when other power plants would have been cheaper," said Eddy Moore, Decarbonization Director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy . "I don't think these costs should be added to customer electric bills, and I am glad the new Commissioners are showing interest in requiring more efficient operations."