ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – This week, Southern Company reported 2024 earnings of $4.4 billion, a $400 million or 10 percent increase from 2023.

“The hard work and dedication of our team members across our company made 2024 an outstanding year for Southern Company,” said Christopher C. Womack, company president, in a release on Thursday.

The profit announcement comes as Georgia Power customers endure their sixth energy rate increase since 2023.

“I’m very disturbed by it,” said Patty Durand, energy advocate with Cool Planet Solutions.

“Customers are definitely paying for these profits. It’s a direct link,” said Durand in an interview with Atlanta News First on Friday. “Every time the rates increase, profits increase, and that means their stock price increases. It is a direct transfer of wealth from the middle and lower incomes of Georgians to the executive suite at Southern Company.”

The energy rate increases were approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), the regulatory board made up of five elected officials, who are currently all Republicans.

Georgia Power said the increase in energy rates are to help fund Plant Vogtle and regular maintenance to the energy grid statewide.

According to Georgia Power’s website, more than 90 percent of its revenue is from state-regulated utilities.

“It’s important to note, in Georgia, under regulation from the Georgia Public Service Commission, Georgia Power’s earnings are capped. So that acts to limit and helps protect our customers, and that’s what we work for,” said John Kraft, spokesperson for Georgia Power.

Kraft pointed to a series of bill relief efforts by Georgia Power to help assist seniors or those on a fixed or low income.

The Public Service Commission set Georgia Power’s return on equity (ROE), the portion of revenue that a utility company can keep as profit, at 11.9 percent.

Kraft said should the company make more than 11.9 percent, customers are eligible for rebates on their power bills.

He said that threshold was not met in 2024.

“Our job as financial regulators is to make sure Georgia Power is successful enough to build and operate a grid that is second to none – including nuclear, solar and battery storage,” said Tim Echols, a Public Service Commissioner, in a text to Atlanta News First on Friday.

“The profits of the Southern Company and stellar reputation they have in the industry and on Wall Street help them provide Georgia with a state-of-the-art system that attracts new business and industry. I want Georgia Power to be an industry leader, and their profitability and success allow that to happen. Georgia is better off with a well-funded utility than with a utility that has gone bankrupt twice – as they have in California,” Echols said.

Critics, though, claim the Georgia Public Service Commission is not doing enough to advocate on behalf of customers.

“The utility has to be better managed by regulators who care about costs,” Durand said.

Durand also stressed the board should instruct Georgia Power to better use its energy grid. She believes customers are paying too much for a grid that is not appropriately utilized.

Durand pointed to a recent report by electrical engineer Alden Hathaway, who found that Georgia Power used roughly 40 percent of its energy grid in 2024, or what he describes as having a load factor of 40 percent.

He said the average U.S. state has a load factor of 50-60 percent, or uses roughly 60 percent of its energy grid.

In 2023 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Georgia generated 129,221,513 megawatt hours of energy.

At the peak summer capacity, Georgia produced 37,786 megawatts of energy in the summer of 2023, or 331,005,350 megawatt hours of energy – if it were sustained for an entire year.

Hathaway said this represents the peak annual capacity for Georgia.

After dividing the net energy generated, 139,221,513, by the peak capacity, 331,005,350, Hathaway said Georgia had a load factor of 42.06%.

Hathaway testified before the Public Service Commission in 2022 as it was weighing a series of rate increases proposed by Georgia Power.

The board approved those rate increases, which went into effect in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The Georgia legislature is currently considering SB 94, which would add a consumer utility counsel to represent consumers in matters before the PSC.

Georgia Power just released its 2025 Integrated Resource Plan, which will dictate how the company provides power for the next three years.

The PSC will soon hold a series of hearings, during which the public can weigh in on the plan. The first meeting is March 25.

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