(The Center Square) – An agreement between the Georgia Public Service Commission and Georgia Power could lower residential power bills by $4 if approved by the commission.
It also includes a hearing on how the utility credits Real Time Pricing Revenue to fuel cost recovery.
The settlement involves the utility’s cost for storm recovery during Hurricane Helene and a separate fuel recovery case.
Georgia Power will reduce its original fuel balance request by $13 million and shave off $100 million from its storm recovery request, according to the agreement, which still needs commission approval.
It could lead to a $4.03 monthly reduction in utility bills for customers who use an average of 1,000 kWh per month, according to the Public Service Commission. Customers would begin to see the savings in June, according to Georgia Power.
The utility expects to provide more savings than anticipated in February, Tyler Cook, CFO and treasurer for Georgia Power, said in a statement.
The plan includes a hearing on the “methods Georgia Power uses to credit Real Time Pricing revenue to the fuel cost recovery revenues,” which will be held before the end of 2026, according to the agreement. A vote on the agreement is expected later this month.
The settlement is progress, but not a victory for the Public Service Commission, said Ja’Mae Rooks, of the Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund.
“The central question remains unanswered: when new gas pipelines, fuel costs, and grid upgrades are built to serve data centers, who pays?” Rooks said in a statement. “The answer should be simple. The data centers pay. Not working families. Not seniors on fixed incomes. Not small businesses already struggling with high utility bills.”
Codi Norred, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, expressed gratitude for the bill relief and cost hearing, but said it was not enough.
“Georgia Power can’t continue to invest in fossil fuels, making storms worse and then profit off those storms,” Norred said in a statement. “Nor can they pass the costs of supplying fossil fuels to data centers on to everyday Georgians. It’s unjust.”
The utility said it would ensure that $556 million in annual revenue from large load customers when the company makes its next rate case in 2028 as part of an agreement reached with the Public Service Commission in December 2025. Georgia Power also made an agreement with the Public Service Commission in July that froze rates through 2028.