Georgia Power: Georgia''s largest electric utility is a regulated monopoly, which means it is the only electricity provider available to its residential customers. Georgia Power is subject to oversight and kept in check by its regulators, the PSC. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of the publicly traded Southern Company.
In Georgia, the PSC is a five-member elected body that regulates the main electric utility, Georgia Power, as well as natural gas pipelines and telecommunications.
Regulation of Electric Utilities in Georgia. Overview. Electric Utility Rate-Making. Rate Design. Surveillance Filings. Earnings Review. Residential Rate Survey. Fuel Cost Recovery. Integrate Resource Planning Act (HB 280)
How energy and electricity policy works in Georgia. This project aims to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful elected board that makes critical decisions about energy and electricity — and has been mired in a lawsuit over voting rights.
This primer aims to present a comprehensive and informational overview of the electricity sector in Georgia, from how electricity is generated in the state, to how electricity is sold and who regulates the production and sale of electricity. This primer also provides a special look at clean energy resources, such as energy efficiency
How energy and electricity policy works in Georgia. This project aims to demystify
This project aims to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful elected board that makes critical decisions about energy and electricity — and has been mired in a lawsuit over voting rights. To ensure our journalism reaches and involves residents who face major barriers to accessing accurate, consistent information, we want to hear from you and stay connected. Take our survey and sign up for email updates below. Grist is also creating printable resources and launching a paid journalism training program around this topic.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership withWABEand Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Under Georgia law, Public Service Commissioners are elected and "shall serve for terms of office of six years and until the election and qualification of their respective successors. This is why commissioners continue to serve despite the canceled 2022 elections: their successors have not been elected.
District 1– Jason Shaw
Appointed: 2019 | Elected: 2020
District 3 – Fitz Johnson
Appointed: 2021 | Elected: never; 2022 special election canceled due to lawsuit
Serves through: the canceled 2022 special election was for the remainder of his predecessor''s term, which was due to end December 31, 2024
District 5 – Tricia Pridemore
Appointed: 2018 | Elected: 2018
District 2 – Tim Echols
Elected: 2010 | Re-elected: 2016
Elected to serve through: December 31, 2022; election canceled due to lawsuit
District 4 – Lauren "Bubba" McDonald
Appointed: 1998 | Elected: 1998, 2008 | Re-elected: 2014, 2020 (lost seat for one term in 2002)
I cover climate change, the environment, and environmental justice as part of a partnership between WABE and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Climate change is an overwhelming global threat that can be difficult to wrap your head around, so I try to break down for Georgians how it’s affecting their lives and what they can do about it.
Before joining WABE in 2021, I hosted “Morning Edition” and covered the Georgia coast for Georgia Public Broadcasting. I got started as a reporter at my college radio station in Providence, where I also worked as a DJ and interned for the local public radio station. I have a masters in broadcast journalism from Columbia and have been honored by the Atlanta Press Club and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.
WABE''s mission is simple: "Inform, inspire, reflect and empower our greater Atlanta community. " We do that through the news, information, and entertainment we bring you via radio and TV, on your phone, in your car, on your smart speaker, or online at the new WABE —anywhere and everywhere throughout greater Atlanta. And we can only do this with your help. Please consider becoming a member of WABE today.
The five Republican members of the Georgia Public Service Commission discuss a rate increase for Georgia Power Co. to pay costs at the utility’s Vogtle nuclear power plant, Dec. 19, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising electricity bills to developing renewable energy.
On a Tuesday morning in January, college student Aurora Gray stepped up to the podium in a windowless room in Atlanta, around the corner from the state Capitol building. In front of her sat a five-member panel of elected officials that oversees how and where many Georgia residents get their power.
"The generation of energy using fossil fuels has become an existential threat to our safety due to the undisputed impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet," Gray told the commission. "We must act now, as later is way too late."
More than a dozen other students sat behind her, awaiting their allotted three minutes in front of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC). One after another, they called on the commission to reject a request from Georgia Power, the state''s largest utility, to add new natural gas capacity to the grid. Instead, they repeated at the podium, they want the company to expand renewable energy and take other steps to combat climate change.
"You can help get Georgia Power to take the right actions in the essential timeframe," said high school senior Evelyn Ford, the last of the students to speak across two days. "Actually, you''re the only five people in Georgia who can."
Ford is substantially correct. The PSC is the only government body with direct authority to regulate whatever Georgia Power does.
The panel sets the rates people pay for electricity and approves the utility''s plans to make or buy that power and deliver it to customers. Georgians routinely attend PSC rate-setting hearings to plead with commissioners not to raise rates, sharing stories of high bills and hard choices between paying for power and other essentials like food and medicine.
"This is real. Life is real," Shemika Simmons of Savannah told the commissioners during rate hearings in 2022. "When rates go up, lights go out."
According to the commission''s own website, "very few governmental agencies have as much impact on people’s lives as the PSC."
About Georgia electricity policy
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By interacting with our online customer service, you'll gain a deep understanding of the various Georgia electricity policy featured in our extensive catalog, such as high-efficiency storage batteries and intelligent energy management systems, and how they work together to provide a stable and reliable power supply for your PV projects.
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