AARP Gives Regulators 2,750 Signatures Opposing Georgia Power rate request

AARP Georgia today presented petitions with more than 2,750 signatures to the Georgia Public Service Commission, telling the commissioners that they oppose Georgia Power’s request to raise their rates for the fourth time in four years.

Georgia Power recently reduced their rate request from more than a cumulative $1 billion over three years to approximately half that. In addition, they said they were willing to have their allowed profit trimmed from 11.15% to 10.95%. Still, AARP Georgia says it is not enough.

Barry Reid, state president of AARP Georgia, noted that Georgia Power’s allowed profit already exceeds the national average of 10%. “It’s just too much,” Reid said.

Thousands of Georgians are still struggling to recover from the recession, Reid said. Among people 50+ in Georgia, nearly 12 percent live below the poverty line, almost 10 percent are unemployed, and more than 9 percent are threatened by hunger on a daily basis.

“This is not the time to add to Georgia Power’s swollen profits,” Reid said, adding that other surcharges, including for cost overruns at Plant Vogle, are already scheduled to be added to next year’s bills. 

The Georgia Public Service Commission will decide in December whether to allow Georgia Power to increase its profits, and AARP Georgia, which began collecting signatures in the last 10 days, will deliver its petitions to the commission today.

AARP is fighting for fair electric rates for our nearly 1 million members in Georgia and all Georgia Power residential customers. To view the petition, go to http://bit.ly/1iguVkF.