Georgia Power Ratepayers Backlash

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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I have been posting for years that Georgia Power ratepayers will “pay thru the nose” for the $17 billion cost over runs on the Vogtle 3&4 Nuclear Power Plants. The rate payers have seen the monthly cost to keep their lights on rise an average of $43 (or $516 per year) since 2023. Now the ratepayers just voted out of office two of the Georgia Public Service Commission members because of the high cost of electricity. The ratepayers are also worried about more power plants in the Georgia Power’s request to add 10,000 megawatts in the next five years further increasing their electricity bills.

It’s been five years since Georgia held a general election for its utility regulator.

As the campaigns for two seats near the finish line Tuesday, political observers say one thing is clear: this is a referendum on power bills.

Georgia Power customers have seen their monthly electricity bills rise six times in roughly three years because of decisions made by the all-Republican Public Service Commission. With two of the PSC’s five seats up for grabs on Election Day, the little-known agency is now in the spotlight.

A 2020 lawsuit over the way voters choose these officials has delayed PSC elections for years. This means Georgians have not had a formal way to signal their support or opposition to the PSC’s actions until now. Tuesday’s election comes amid a prolonged federal government shutdown, a stalled job market and persistent inflation. And for voters, especially Georgia Power customers — who have seen the monthly cost to keep their lights on rise an average of $43 since 2023 ― power bills are also top of mind.

Customers’ wallets are on the line as the PSC readies for more major decisions in the coming years.

Regardless of the election outcome, all current sitting members will have the chance to vote this year on Georgia Power’s request to add 10,000 megawatts — roughly the generating capacity of 10 nuclear reactors — to its power grid in just five years. The utility wants to do so with a mix dominated by gas-fired power plants, placing its weight on polluting and pricey fossil fuels.

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As a kid in the 50’s I remember the promise that nuclear power was going to be so efficient that electricity would be free.

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‘Too cheap to meter’ was the phrase.

DB2

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Ah, yes, that was the phrase. Not the same as free. Thanks for the correction.

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Vogtle was a windfall for Geogia Power. They got roughly 10% ROE on their investment, so these super expensive power projects are lucrative for them.

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People can vote for any silly thing or person they want to. But that doesn’t mean the people are acting from an informed perspective.

The ratepayers in Georgia continue to have lower electricity prices than the US overall. Their rates have not gone up a huge amount.

Below are the latest residential electricity rates for the overall state of Georgia, compared with some of its neighbors.

August 2025, Residential Electricity, cents per kwh
Georgia: 14.88 cents/kwh
Florida: 15.10
Alabama: 15.95
South Carolina: 14.76
Tennessee: 13.33
US Average: 17.10

The Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear plants went into commercial service in July 2023 and April 2024, respectively.

Let’s look at the residential electricity prices from August, 2022, before the new Vogtle plants went into operation.
August 2022, cents per kwh
Georgia: 14.17 cents/kwh
Florida: 13.76
Alabama: 14.26
South Carolina: 13.90
Tennessee: 12.22
US Average: 14.88

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/archive/october2022.pdf

Here are the percent increases from August 2022 to the same month in 2025:
Georgia: +5.0%
Florida: +9.7%
Alabama: +11.8%
South Carolina: +6.2%
Tennessee: +9.1%
US Average: +14.9%

Georgia prices have not gone up a huge amount. In fact, the increase in Georgia is smaller than its neighbors, and the US overall.

Electricity prices are up everywhere, as inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the US dollar. In California, for instance, residential electricity prices are up 22% since 2022, and Californians pay a whopping 32.25 cents per kilowatt-hour on average. I am much angrier about the price of electricity in California than in Georgia. California’s energy policies are crazy.

Note: Georgia Power is not the only electric utility in the state. However, with its Vogtle co-owners (Oglethorpe Power, MEAG, city of Dalton), it looks to me that the plant owners serve the majority of electricity customers in Georgia.

One last point. Electricity demand is projected to substantially increase in the coming years. AI computing, as well as the added demand from EVs, are two reasons. If utilities don’t add new capacity, then prices will go up even more. It is simple supply-demand economics. AI data centers need to operate 24/7. The power needs to be reliable. Nuclear plants provide that reliability.

_ Pete

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Georgia Power added a Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery (NCCR) charge to customers’ bills starting in 2011. If you want to do a before and after comparison that would be the correct date to use.

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Very well. Below are the prices from December 2010, and the percent increases.

December 2010, Residential Electricity, cents per kwh
Price
Georgia: 10.17
Florida 11.52
Alabama 10.83
S. Carolina 10.53
Tenn. 9.32
US Avg 11.58

Percent change 12/2010 to 8/2025
Georgia: +46.3%
Florida: +31.1
Alabama: +47.3
S. Carolina: +40.2
Tenn. +43.0
US Avg. +47.7

The percentage increases all look fairly close, with the exception of Florida, which only increased 31%. I don’t have an explanation for that, but I could point out that Florida’s price in 2025 is still higher than Georgia (15.10 cents vs 14.88). Anyway, Georgia’s percent increase is in line with the US average, so I don’t see how the price of the new Vogtle plants has made a big difference. The price of everything, everywhere, is up.

(Hopefully, the columns will line up correctly with these tables. The text editor used to have a display on the right, to show how the finished post was going to look. But I guess TMF decided to get rid of that.)

_ Pete

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And inflation was up 48% over that same period. So, no price increase after inflation.

DB2

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Average electricity prices include taxes and other fees which vary widely between states. So these average electricity prices are like comparing app[es and oranges. A better comparison between states is wholesale electricity prices.

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Yeah, I don’t think those numbers tell us very much. Even within Georgia Powers service area there are areas with different rate structures because of things like transmission costs and local fees.

There is no version of this story where Vogtle 3 & 4 make any financial sense for ratepayers.

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Yes, and the rate changes are lined up already for 2025 and beyond to pay for Vogtle 3&4.

Southern Company, Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission colluded to screw the ratepayers and enrich Southern Company and Georgia Power. I hope these shenanigans will stop with the two new members on the Commission.

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According to Georgia Power’s data, the utility’s average monthly bill for a residential customer for the full year is now $171. The average in the month of July — usually the hottest month of the year in Georgia — is significantly higher, about $266.

Exactly how those costs stack up to other states and power companies is hard to say.

Electricity rates have been on the rise nationally since 2022 and are expected to keep climbing at least through 2026, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

Georgia Power says its rates have been 15% below the national average since 1990. But there are other charges included in customers’ bills beyond the base rates.

The most recent full year of bill data available from the EIA is from 2023 and includes customer bills from all of Georgia’s electric utilities, not just Georgia Power.

PSC commissioners, all Republicans, who voted for the rate increases said they have tried to strike a balance between reliability and affordability.

Chairman Jason Shaw said other states have experienced blackouts because utilities are unable to meet electricity demand. Georgia has not.

“Georgia’s long-term energy planning has helped us to meet our growing needs and has helped us avoid service interruptions,” he said.

Commissioners Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson, who are running for reelection this fall, both acknowledged the high bills some are facing.

Echols said the PSC has taken steps “to mitigate the unequal impact on the poorest Georgians,” like expanding discount programs for seniors and low-income customers.

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The Georgia PSC elections come amid a mounting utility affordability crisis nationwide. PowerLines analysis shows that in the first three quarters of 2025, utilities requested a record $34 billion in rate increases – more than double the amount during the same period in 2024. A PowerLines poll conducted with Ipsos found that 3 in 4 Americans are concerned about rising utility bills, with 4 in 5 people feeling powerless over these costs. Skyrocketing utility bills have also played a role in other key races nationwide.

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You just made my point. Energy costs are up all over the country. It looks to me that the PowerLines analysis is for the entire United States, not just Georgia. The Vogtle costs did not impact utilities in Oregon, Missouri or Vermont. Costs are up all over, because of the huge investments in wind, solar, batteries, and other “green” energy sources.

Georgia utility customers continue to pay less than the national average. This was true before Vogtle 3 and 4, and it is true after the plants went into service.

_ Pete

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There’s relatively little nonpartisan evidence for the allegation that costs are up due to investments in non-fossil fuel energy. At least some of this appears to be inflation in the cost of materials and equipment which are passed along to customers. Natural gas prices have soared as well, and more than 40% of electricity is generated using natural gas.

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I can point to Germany and California. Germany is famous for its Energiewende policies, which have built up a huge amount of mostly wind and solar power. Germans often point to their green policies as a model that other nations should follow. In the link below, Germany has the highest household electricity rates in the EU, at 38.35 euro-cents per kwh.

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Electricity_price_statistics#Electricity_prices_for_household_consumers

California has also gone heavily into the intermittent renewable energy sources. Residential rates in California are currently at 32.25 cents/kwh, which is almost double the national average at 17.10 cents.

In California, a complicating factor is that much of the renewables build has been with home solar panels. The people with solar panels on their roofs don’t pay much to the local utility, so those people don’t pay much for the upkeep of the grid. Those costs are past down to poorer Californians who can’t afford solar panels, or aren’t allowed to install solar panels on their apartments, for instance. The grid maintenance costs are past down to a smaller group of customers.The people with solar panels still use electricity from the grid, they just don’t pay their share for the maintenance and overhead costs.

I know there is a lot of hand-waving and explanations on why renewables really aren’t so expensive. But I am looking at the bottom line, which is the price of electricity.

_ Pete

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These numbers aren’t telling you what you think they are. As pointed out above, residential electricity rates includes taxes and fees.

But just for the sake of argument, let’s use your methodology and look at the bottom line. The states with the highest percentage of non-hydro (legacy, unlikely to be recent additions), non-biomass (hence low carbon which is what we are concerned about) renewable energy are:

Rank State % from wind + solar + geothermal (approx) Residential Rates
1 Iowa ~ 55.6% = 55.3% wind + 0.3% solar + 0% geo 13.86
2 South Dakota ~52.3% wind 13.25
3 Kansas ~ 45.3% = 45.2% wind + 0.1% solar + 0% geo 14.35
4 Oklahoma ~ 41.5% = 41.4% wind + 0.1% solar + 0% geo 12.86
5 New Mexico ~ 35.3% = 30.2% wind + 5.0% solar + 0.1% geo 14.99
Average Top 5 States 13.86
US Average 17.1

Using your methodology, the states with the highest percentage of renewables ALL have lower than the national average residential electricity rates. Therefore we should quadruple down, right?

Again, your methodology is suspect to begin with, but even then it only works if you cherry pick the data. Which is another way of saying it doesn’t work.

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As I wrote in my post, there is a difference between wind power and solar power. Very few people have a home wind turbines. Lots of people have home solar panels. Solar power is a regressive tax on those unfortunate people who can’t afford, or otherwise can’t use solar panels. Those people have to pay the grid upkeep costs, even though everyone, even the solar power owners, uses the grid at some time.

(The personal attacks make me more confident that I am right. Thanks for that.)

_ Pete

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You’re very welcome. You thanks are especially appreciated because I didn’t attack you personally. I simply pointed out the various problems with your methodology.

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