Georgia Power seeking more rate raises over high fuel costs

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Georgia Energy Co. payments may go up one other 17% in June to cowl the upper prices of pure fuel and coal that the utility is burning to generate electrical energy for its 2.7 million clients.

The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. instructed regulators Tuesday that it wants to gather billions extra going ahead, and that ratepayers will probably owe the corporate an extra $2.6 billion for gasoline it has already purchased by June.

Meaning a typical Georgia Energy Co. residential buyer may pay as a lot as $23 a month extra on their payments over the subsequent two years to cowl the prices, if the Georgia Public Service Fee approves. The corporate says falling pure fuel prices may deliver that quantity all the way down to $17 a month.

“Simply as Georgians paid increased costs on the fuel pump in 2022, Georgia Energy additionally paid extra for the pure fuel — on common 3 times extra — and different fuels we used to generate electrical energy,” firm spokesperson Jacob Hawkins stated in a press release. “These will increase are solely a results of rising power costs — and Georgia Energy earns zero revenue from these gasoline prices.”

That might be atop fee will increase already coming. Charges went up 2.5% final month, bringing a typical residential invoice to $131.60 a month, after the Public Service Fee accepted a three-year fee plan in December. Will increase of 4.5% will comply with in 2024 and 2025.

Clients will even must pay the prices of the third and fourth nuclear models at Plant Vogtle close to Augusta. Unit 3 is projected to start operation in Could or June, resulting in a roughly $4 a month enhance for residential clients. A bigger fee enhance is prone to comply with when Unit 4 begins operations, now projected earlier than March 2024.

Public Service Fee employees have warned that every one the modifications may enhance residential payments by $55 to $60 month.

Usually, a utility is allowed to cost clients for the price of gasoline, however isn’t allowed to make a revenue on these prices, in contrast to the earnings Georgia Energy is assured for investing in energy crops and transmission strains. The five-member elected fee sometimes decides how a lot Georgia Energy can accumulate to pay for gasoline as soon as each two years. Within the meantime, if costs change, the corporate can accumulate an excessive amount of or too little.

Throughout this two-year interval, despite the fact that the fee accepted a 15% increase in gasoline prices that started in January 2022, the corporate collected far too little cash, as pure fuel costs skyrocketed due to an enhancing economic system and the Ukraine battle, and coal costs rose much more steeply partially due to provide and labor shortages. Georgia Energy says the worth of fuel tripled from 2020 to 2022, and the worth of coal ended up 5 instances increased.

Liz Coyle, the chief director of Georgia Watch, a nonprofit that advocates for customers, acknowledged that the excessive unrecovered gasoline steadiness is “extremely, extremely uncommon,” however stated commissioners must delay fee will increase for Vogtle to offer ratepayers some reduction.

“Any method you take a look at it, individuals are struggling to pay their energy payments, and the speed enhance and unit 3 and 4 are unhealthy,” Coyle stated.

Georgia Energy says it desires to make up the under-collected quantity over three years, as a substitute of the everyday two, as a result of the debt is so giant. The utility says spreading $900 million in collections into the third yr would reduce the increase in payments by about $7 a month.

The corporate says that pure fuel costs have been falling because it made its projections of the price in September, and the price to a residential buyer may very well be nearer to $17 a month. Georgia Energy stated it might file up to date projections later.

Georgia Energy additionally desires the fee to offer it the flexibility to make bigger modifications to cowl value swings between fuel-cost fee circumstances, asking for permission to lift or decrease gasoline prices by as a lot as 40% within the interim, as a substitute of the present 15%. Due to unrecovered debt, that means would probably solely be used to additional elevate buyer payments within the subsequent two years.

The corporate additionally proposes to lift a gasoline value low cost for low-income senior residents from $6 a month now to $8 a month.