$43M Refund Coming To GA Power Customers

PAULDING COUNTY, GA — The Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously ordered Georgia Power Company to refund its customers $43.6 million. The refunds are the result of the company earning above its commission approved return on equity for calendar year 2016 under terms of the commission’s order in the 2013 Georgia Power rate case in Docket 36989. The exact amount per customer and the date of the refunds will be determined in a later filing.

Background: The final commission order in Docket 36989 provided that rates would be set using a 10.95 percent return on equity with an earnings dead band between 10 percent and 12 percentretail ROE. Retail earnings above 12 percent return on earnings are shared, with two thirds being directly refunded to customers, allocated on a percentage basis to all customer groups including Real Time Pricing incremental usage, and the remaining one-third retained by Georgia Power Company.

The commission also ordered the company to file with the commission by Feb. 20, 2018 comments quantifying the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by the president on Dec. 22, 2017.

The measure lowers the corporate tax cut from 35 to 21 percent effective Jan. 1, 2018.

For more information on the commission, see the commission web site at www.psc.state.ga.us.

Photo by Patch Editor John Barker