How the Georgia Public Service Commission fails Georgians

On Friday May 31st U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm flew to Georgia to attend a ribbon cutting for Plant Vogtle, a ceremony for the first set of nuclear reactors built in the U.S. in nearly 30 years. "We need two hundred of these by 2050. Two down, one hundred and ninety-eight to go," were her first words.

There’s a lot I don’t understand about the world. But how a state that is supposed to protect its people from a monopoly utility would allow Georgia Power to build a $36 billion nuclear facility that is 10 time more expensive than equivalent generation, and then be celebrated for that achievement, is something I do not understand. Plant Vogtle is the most expensive generating facility on Earth.

Why did the state allow it? Our state Public Service Commission (PSC) is charged with ensuring that Georgia Power is financially sound while also ensuring that customers pay just and reasonable rates. These mandates are written into state law.

But that’s not what is happening. Instead, commissioners allow Georgia Power to block or artificially hinder competition from more affordable solutions such as solar, battery storage, and demand management like energy efficiency, but do allow them to build expensive nuclear and gas plants.

One of the claims made during the ceremonies was that Plant Vogtle is now the largest clean energy generating facility in the country. But that implies clean energy is a value we have in Georgia. That can’t be true when the very same month that Plant Vogtle was completed, April, the PSC approved Georgia Power’s request to build three new gas plants to meet data center energy needs, and authorized continuing coal plants that were scheduled for retirement.

These approvals were granted despite intense pushback from the public opposed to expanding fossil fuels, and from prospective Georgia Power customers with clean energy goals. For example, Microsoft protested during PSC hearings that expanding gas and continuing coal to supply their data center energy needs does not meet their carbon free emissions pledge. The U.S. Department of Defense protested that their actual request for clean energy was not represented in Georgia Power’s plan while hypothetical customers without clean energy goals were.

So what’s really going on here? Several things: a broken compensation system for our monopoly utility, a PSC that does not meet its state mandate, and data center tax breaks that harm electricity customers.

The most serious issue is that state of Georgia guarantees compensation to Georgia Power for building new generation, and the more expensive the facility the more profits the state grants Georgia Power. The reverse is not true: Georgia Power is not compensated when it reduces costs, incorporates energy efficiency, or avoids expensive investments. Therefore, Georgia Power seeks ways to build more and more generation facilities. They are acting according to the incentive the state sets for them. It is the state of Georgia that is not acting properly by continuing a 20th century model of guaranteeing profits for building things instead of modernizing how Georgia Power is compensated.

Georgia’s data center tax breaks are also harming Georgia’s electricity customers because it allows Georgia Power reason to demand authorization to build massive amounts of new generation, more than twice the amount of what Vogtle just added to the grid. Recognizing this was a problem caused the Georgia legislature to pass legislation to end data center tax breaks and create an electricity study committee, but the legislation was vetoed by Governor Kemp.

These are serious issues: electricity is an essential service and our utility bills are already too high. There is some confusion that Georgians pay low electricity rates, but rates make up only about half a Georgia Power bill. Once tariffs, surcharges and service fees are added Georgians pay the 5th highest electricity bills in the nation. Our summers are brutally hot here and people can die from lack of air conditioning, or even a fan, when they lose access to electricity. Renters can be evicted and parents can lose custody of their children if they don’t have electricity. Protecting Georgians by keeping electricity bills among the lowest in the nation to match our low-cost living should be the PSC’s priority. Yet time and time again Commissioners do not choose the lowest cost option, which is why Georgians pay such high bills.

I often wonder why, when I was director of a parks and greenspace nonprofit, I was not allowed to give so much as a book to anyone on staff at the city, yet Georgia Power is allowed to make donations to the governor and fund dozens of lobbyists to advance their interests at the PSC. The stakes are so much higher for electricity service than for a park.

If lobbying is going to be allowed for Georgia Power, lobbying for consumers must also be allowed. In 2009 the state legislature defunded the Consumer Utility Counsel (CUC), making Georgia one of only five states without an office that works to advance consumer and small business interests during rate proceedings.

The question we must ask ourselves is has the regulated for-profit monopoly utility model stopped working for Georgians? Yes, it has. These problems are fully outlined in a new report published by the Institute for Self Reliance:

Our state commissioners are not operating as a check on monopoly power as intended. Georgia Power is blocking the clean energy transition and squeezing us for all we’re worth. Even worse, Georgia PSC Commissioners are not Georgia Power customers. They pay their power bills to rural electric membership corporations which are non-profits, and therefore don’t price gouge.

Georgians deserve affordable, clean electricity. Let’s work together to ensure that Georgia has a 21st-century energy plan that is affordable, clean, and protects the most vulnerable among us. Sign up to get active by clicking on the Contact page and completing the form. I have plans to dethrone Georgia Power but need help.

Thank you.