Kemp touts deal to temporarily freeze Georgia Power rates

But earlier this week, the utility announced it would not make a request this summer as expected. Instead, it revealed a handshake agreement with the PSC’s public interest staff to keep the company’s current base rates in place through the end of 2028.

It was the first time the utility had made such a move since 2016.

At a news conference under the Capitol’s Gold Dome on Wednesday, Kemp was flanked by PSC Chairman Jason Shaw and Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald to pitch that proposal in front of TV cameras and other media.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Kemp said the proposed rate “freeze” would “help Georgia families at a time when they need it most, after historic inflation and storms have challenged many people’s day-to-day lives.”

Shaw echoed many of those sentiments, adding that “to freeze rates for three years is a very big deal for our state, and it’s good for Georgians.”

The agreement comes in the wake of a series of six rate hikes approved by the PSC that have pushed the average Georgia Power residential customer’s monthly bill up by about $43, according to data from the company.

Those prior rate increases have been approved with little opposition from commissioners.

The deal announced this week to temporarily freeze rates is not finalized. Shaw, McDonald and the three other commissioners — all Republicans — still have to weigh in, with a vote that’s scheduled for July 1.

And even if the pause is approved, the reprieve from rate hikes is likely to be short-lived.

Next year, Georgia Power will ask commissioners for permission to collect from customers the huge balance of storm-related costs it has racked up. The largest portion comes from Hurricane Helene, which the company has called the most destructive storm in its history. Georgia Power says it has $830 million in outstanding damage costs from Helene alone.

The company will make its ask to recoup storm costs between Feb. 1 and July 1 next year.

In 2026, Georgia Power is also expected to make a separate request to pass customers the bill for the cost of fuel used in its coal, gas and nuclear power plants.

Touting ‘good news’

A series of court battles and new legislation have delayed PSC elections since 2022, but in 2025, two seats on the powerful regulatory body are up for grabs.

Incumbent Commissioners Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson are seeking reelection. Both have voted for many of the rate increases that have led Georgia Power customers’ bills to climb.

Voting for the pause would allow both commissioners to avoid taking a position on what could have been yet another rate increase ahead of the primary elections in June and general elections in November.

Kemp and Shaw were also asked if politics played a role in the move to potentially freeze rates, or the governor’s decision to join a news conference to promote it.

Shaw and Kemp both dismissed that notion.

“We’re just here to have this press conference because this is good news,” Kemp said, adding later that, “We’re not basing our calendars around here on what political elections are coming up.”

Brionte McCorkle, the executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters and a sharp critic of the PSC’s policy decisions, said the temporary pause is a good thing.

“People do need relief,” she said. But McCorkle added she finds it hard to believe the looming elections weren’t a factor.

“They need to be held accountable, and they just didn’t want that conversation going through Election Day,” McCorkle said.