For agricultural processors and other industries, this is a crucial competitive advantage.Ĭook County has acted strategically to provide the best possible electrical service and rates for businesses and residents, and that has meant choosing publicly provided power. While other locales in Georgia have to cope with restricted water resources, Cook County offers a powerful asset in a municipally supplied, low-cost, high capacity water system, with 9 million gallons of available capacity per day. Monthly bills for a typical residential customer ultimately could increase $16.48 by 2022, according to analysis of the company’s filings Friday.Keeping utility costs low and capacity high, Cook County positions business and industry to enjoy the high productivity and profitability necessary for bottom-line competitiveness. Georgia Power’s more than 2.6 million customers would see monthly electric rates begin to rise in January if a company request is approved by state regulators.
An AJC analysis last year found that its rates had been rising faster than the U.S. Georgia Power has said its rates remain below the national average. And in 2010, the PSC approved a $1.55 billion increase rather than the $2.4 billion requested. The company asked for a $1.4 billion increase in 2013 and got $870 million. Georgia Power did put in place rate increases in other years after approval of three-year rate rollouts in both 20, according to the PSC. Georgia Power, a government-regulated utility, agreed not to file for a rate increase in 2016 as its parent company acquired AGL. Hearings on Georgia Power’s request are expected to begin in late September, with a final decision by the PSC in December. That, she said, would lessen the ability of customers to reduce their bills by cutting back air conditioning use and turning off lights. But it also is proposing to substantially increase monthly fixed rates in bills. The company has proposed some changes in fees and other charges that could mitigate some of the impact on low-income customers, Coyle said. “For many people the idea of nearly $10 more a month onto their power bills, if you are living pay check to pay check, is a big amount,” she said. The first year alone, rates for a typical customer would rise nearly $10 a month. “These are big numbers,” said Liz Coyle, the executive director of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group. “We fully recognize that we are asking our customers to pay more for electricity, which is an essential service, and realize this can place a burden on our customers, especially those who are already financially challenged,” Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers wrote in the filing with the state.īut, he said, “our current base rates are no longer sufficient to allow the Company to recover the costs necessary to continue providing safe, reliable electric service to our customers while maintaining high levels of customer service.” Georgia Power said it “strives to be efficient and minimize any cost increase for customers.” The company said it has cut various costs over time and reduced its staff by 1,000. The company serves about 1.6 million Georgia customers.
If it is OK'd, the AGL change could add $3.80 a month or about $45 a year to the average residential gas customer's bill. And recently Atlanta Gas Light, which like Georgia Power is part of Atlanta-based Southern Company, asked the PSC to approve a $96 million rate increase for residents and businesses that are served by the state's natural gas marketers.
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