Time for Georgia Public Service Commission to cap consumer electricity rates
For too long, Georgia households have borne the brunt of rising electricity costs, facing six price increases since 2023. Public outcry has been significant, and rightfully so.
In response, the Public Service Commission has recently taken two actions that signal a potential shift toward greater consumer protection.
In January, the PSC vowed to shield ratepayers from cost-shifting linked to new data center-related energy investments. Most recently, it approved a three-year freeze on the “base rate” for electricity.
Taken together, these actions hint at a future where inflationary rate increases burdening households might finally ease. But will they?
PSC should take note of the telecommunications blueprint
The fundamental role of the PSC is to act as a stand-in for competition. In a competitive market, customers choose and producers compete to deliver value, win market share and earn loyalty.
Today, Georgia Power competes for its largest industrial customers who can choose where to set up shop, but its smallest customers — residents and small businesses — remain dependent on the conglomerate monopoly provider. The PSC needs to do more to simulate competitive market conditions that will benefit residential customers.
To see what’s possible, we need only to look to the telecommunications industry. Not long ago, it too was dominated by a single, vertically integrated “natural” monopoly — much like Georgia Power today. Yet, competition has dramatically transformed this previously regulated market. This year alone, we’ve seen:
- T-Mobile introduce a 20% price decrease with a five-year price guarantee,
- Verizon offering three years of price protection,
- AT&T lowering prices for customers 55-plus in age
- Xfinity also offers a five-year guarantee, and
- Google Fiber has kept the same price as it has for the last 13 years!
Some might argue that electricity is vastly different from telecommunications. However, it is instructive to remember that 40 years ago, there was just one telephone company, AT&T. And just as AT&T fiercely resisted competition then, Georgia Power will undoubtedly fight change that represents a risk to it fully recovering its operational costs, and by extension, its profits. They’ll point to items such as the $830 million cost to replace poles and restore service after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
However, many telecom companies also have transmission facilities on those same damaged poles. Those companies are absorbing the financial impact of events like Helene as the cost of doing business in a highly competitive market characterized by consumer choice.
Commissioners should go from freezing rates to capping bills
To truly confirm its commitment to residential customers, the PSC should now open a proceeding to cap and guarantee annual residential electricity bills for the next three to five years. Given that for the past five years, residential customers have used the same amount of electricity or less per year, a decision to go from freezing rates to capping bills is another bold step in the right direction. Imagine the peace of mind knowing that your power bill — not just your base rate — won’t be any higher this year than it was last year, and will remain the same over the next few years.
Capping residential bills will go a long way in dispelling the vociferous criticism that commissioners are compromised by campaign contributions from people and organizations that are too closely tied to utility companies, which leads to the PSC being overly focused on protecting monopoly profits.
The PSC needs to move beyond the outdated “cost-plus” regulation that essentially leads to price and profit increases while families struggle with rising bills. It’s time for the PSC to simulate market competition through bold consumer protections that extend beyond a temporary freeze in “base rates.”
In this new world, Georgia Power will need to learn what every other competitive company already knows: To prosper, they must innovate, cut costs and adapt to unforeseen market conditions — without automatically reaching into customers’ pockets.
Now is the time for the Public Service Commission to remove the blanket of protection for utility profits and press for more consumer benefits, starting with a three- to five-year guaranteed cap on residential electricity bills.
Robert L. Jones was a 2025 Democratic primary candidate for the District-3 seat on the Public Service Commission. He previously worked at the California Public Utilities Commission, where he participated in electricity and telecommunications regulation and deregulation.
