Georgia Power raises rates

Georgia Power is not raising base rates now; the state froze them through the end of 2028 after a run of increases that ended in January 2025. (psc.ga.gov) (georgiapower.com) The freeze came from a May 19, 2025 agreement between Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission’s staff after the utility was expected to file a new rate case. The commission said the deal kept base rates at current levels for at least three years. (psc.ga.gov) The six increases critics cite came from a 2022 rate case that spread higher base rates over three years, with the last increase taking effect in January 2025. That history is why Georgia Power’s bills became a political issue in the 2024 Public Service Commission elections. (psc.ga.gov) (cbsnews.com) The pressure on bills did not disappear with the freeze. Base rates are only one part of a power bill, and Georgia Power can still seek separate recovery for fuel and storm damage. (psc.ga.gov) (georgiapower.com) On February 17, 2026, Georgia Power filed cases that it said would lower overall rates this summer if approved, even while asking to recover storm costs over four years. The company said its storm reserve is under-recovered by $912 million, including nearly $800 million in damage from Hurricane Helene in 2024. (georgiapower.com) Data centers sit in the middle of the next argument. Georgia regulators approved rules in 2024 and 2025 that they say require new large-load customers such as data centers to cover their own costs instead of shifting them to households and small businesses. (psc.ga.gov) (11alive.com) Georgia Power has also told regulators it has filed nearly 2 gigawatts of new customer contracts under those rules. In separate filings late last year, the utility said demand from data centers was driving the need for major new generation. (georgiapower.com) (cbsnews.com) That dispute has moved beyond Atlanta. On April 21, 2026, Senator Jon Ossoff said he was investigating whether artificial intelligence data centers are contributing to higher power bills in Georgia and nationally, and asked federal regulators how they will ensure technology companies “pay their own way.” (cbsnews.com) The state legislature did not settle it this year. Lawmakers adjourned in April without passing bills that consumer advocates said were needed to shield residential customers from data-center infrastructure costs, while Georgia Power and the Data Center Coalition opposed the measures and argued the industry brings jobs and investment. (ajc.com) So the Georgia story is no longer a simple rate-hike headline. Base rates are frozen, but the fights over storm recovery, fuel charges, data-center buildouts and who ultimately pays are still moving through regulators, lawmakers and now Congress. (psc.ga.gov) (georgiapower.com) (cbsnews.com)