Georgia Public Service Commission orders Georgia Power Company to refund its customers $43.6 million
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously ordered Tuesday that Georgia Power Company refund its customers $43.6 million due to the company earning above its approved return on equity (ROE) for the 2016 calendar year.
The PSC will determine the exact amount per customer and the date of the refunds in a later filing.
The commission determined in a 2013 Georgia Power rate case that rates would be set using a 10.95 percent ROE with an earnings dead band between 10 percent and 12 percent retail ROE.
The 2013 order states that retail earnings 12 percent must be shared with two thirds directly refunded to customers. The funds must be allocated on a percentage basis to all customer groups including real-time pricing incremental usage. Georgia Power Company retains the remaining one third.
The PSC also ordered Tuesday that the company file with the commission by Feb. 20, comments quantifying the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017. The measure reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent effective Jan. 1.
“Whether it’s expanding pipelines or building new state-of-the-art sources of energy, we want to help make our state more prosperous for all citizens,” Vice-Chair Tim Echols said. “Keeping rates low and providing refunds reminds ratepayers that we are working on their behalf.”
