Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2009 > January > 16 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGeorgia Power lets big businesses off the hook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A two-page bill to permit Georgia Power to immediately pass to ratepayers the cost of financing the construction of two new nuclear reactors was making its way around the state Capitol on Friday afternoon.
The bill is bound to stir controversy — Georgia Power is usually required to shoulder such costs, then charge ratepayers afterwards.
On Monday, we posted an item that identified opposition to the Georgia Power bill among large industrial users. That was important, because big companies are capable of hiring big lobbyist to sink the bill.
But as unveiled, the Georgia Power bill sponsored by Senate Rules Chairman Don Balfour has this line: “These financing costs shall be recovered from each customer through a separate rate tariff and allocated on an equal percentage basis to standard base tariffs which are designed to collect embedded capacity costs.”
Translated into English, this means: “Large industrial and commercial plants — whether a Kia auto plant or a big box Wal-Mart — shall not be charged - much — for this adventure. Not in advance. Instead, the burden will fall on small businesses and homeowners who are much likely to shell out money for trouble-making lobbyists.”
Problem solved. We understand that many interested parties, such as Georgia’s textile industry, have already moved from hostile to officially neutral. Because suddenly, the Georgia Power bill has naught to do with them.
Updated: Georgia Power spokeswoman Christy Heiser just sent a statement over. The bill does not exempt industrial and commercial customers, she said. And perhaps that’s true. They would pay some. But the language of the legislation does mean that the extra cost Georgia Power wants to levy wouldn’t be applied to the largest portion of the kilowatt hours these big customers use.
Comments
By observing lobbyist
January 16, 2009 6:23 PM | Link to this
The larger customers who seem to be at least partly exempt from some of this ripoff are those paying “interruptible rates;” when GA Power needs the juice they are using to sell to someone who will pay more for it, they stop using it.
These are almost all industrial users. Big box stores are in no position to shut off the lights and air conditioning at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, when these interruptions usually occur.
The interruptible rates are not “standard base tariffs which are designed to collect embedded capacity costs,” the key clause in SB 31.
By Deja vu?
January 17, 2009 7:06 AM | Link to this
Exempting industrial customers from increases and dictating exactly how costs would be recovered from other customers. Isn’t that what the Legislature did 10 years ago with Atlanta Gas Light Company? That worked well, didn’t it?
Once again we have a utility telling us that they are doing it to us for our own good. Once again the sophisticated customers know better but are being bought off. Once again the average Joe is left paying the bill.
By Stan Wise Sucks
January 18, 2009 12:07 PM | Link to this
PSC member Stan Wise and state senator Don Balfour are both prostitutes and puppets for Georgia Power. And Republicans and Democrats in the state house and state senate have no problem with GA Power sticking it to the little guy.
There are no checks & balances in the Peach State.