Your Georgia Power bill will likely be going up, but not as much as utility initially wanted

ATLANTA — Georgia Power customers will probably see higher electric bills, but not nearly as much as the utility provider initially wanted.

Channel 2′s Richard Elliot learned Thursday that Georgia Power wanted to raise rates by about $15 a month. But it just reached an agreement to raise them much less than that.

Elliot spoke with Eureka Williams as she left a department store in Tucker. She doesn’t like the idea of her power bill going up, especially when it’s getting colder and with the economy the way it is.

“It’s not fair to the American people that ... our light bills, the Georgia Power bill, is going up,” Williams said.

Your bill is probably going up, but not by as much as the utility originally wanted.

Elliot was there at a public service commission committee meeting as the regulatory staff announced it had reached a compromise with Georgia Power.

“Yesterday, the PIA staff and Georgia Power reached a stipulated agreement to resolve a majority of the issues in the case,” said Rob Trokey with Georgia Power.

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Georgia Power wanted a $2.9 billion rate hike over three years. The new agreement gives them $1.8 billion.

For the average customer, that means instead of a nearly $15 a month increase on their power bill, the rate hike will be closer to $4.

Georgia Power’s Brandon Marzo told commissioners that the six-months-long negotiations had been tough.

“I will admit to you this has been one of the more passionate rate cases I’ve ever been involved in,” Marzo said.

Antoine Green is a Georgia Power customer. With the economy the way it is, he really doesn’t want to see any rate hike, but he told Elliot that a smaller one is better than a big one.

“You know it’s going to happen. Nothing stays the same forever,” Green said. “When it happens, you just got to be prepared for it.”

Both sides and others all came to this agreement, but it’s not set in stone. And there are still many details to be hammered out about things like solar panels.

The Public Service Commission will vote on it next week.

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