by Dave Williams
Atlanta Business Chronicle
March 11, 2010
The Georgia Public Service Commission Thursday gave Georgia Power Co. permission to raise rates by $3.9 billion to cover higher fuel costs.
The rate hike, which commissioners approved 4-1, will add an average of $5.59 per month to customer bills, down slightly from the increase originally sought by the utility.
In an agreement with the PSC’s public interest staff, Georgia Power lowered the per-month increase in exchange for a longer cost recovery period of 42 months.
The agreement includes an interim fuel rider (IFR) that allows Georgia Power, a unit of Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) to increase rates by an additional $330 million to $390 million without having to file data with the PSC justifying the move.
Commissioner Bobby Baker, the only PSC member voting against the proposal, objected to letting the utility raise fuel recovery costs within the next year without a formal hearing.
“You have taken the easy road out by accepting the IFR,” Baker told the other commissioners.
But Commissioner Chuck Eaton said the PSC was only following Georgia law.
“Georgia Power gets recovery on fuel cost increases,” Eaton said. “The statute is written so that we don’t shirk our responsibility on fuel costs.”
Fuel cost recoveries compensate electric utilities for the costs of the coal and natural gas that fire their power plants.
The new rates take effect April 1.
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/03/08/daily66.html
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