Georgia PSC: The Wild West

The Georgia Public Service commission behaves likes it's a wild west: state laws, rules and regulations are routinely violated like it's the 1890s. What law? Regulations? Never heard of 'em.

For example, Georgia rules and regulations require commissioners to express no opinion on matters before the commission.

However, it's the wild west: Commissioner Tim Echols pays no attention. Here is an opinion piece he wrote for the Wall Street Journal published in August of 2017, four months before a major decision on whether the state would allow Georgia Power to continue to construct the massively over budget and late Plant Vogtle. He was required to express no opinion, but clearly had one.

Wait - nuclear is "a hedge against a low-carbon future"? But he's been clear that he opposes any government interference in such a future as evidenced from these headlines.

During hearings leading up to the all important December 2017 vote on whether Georgia should continue Plant Vogtle after Westinghouse went bankrupt and it was clear the project would cost far more and take far longer than promised by Georgia Power, Commissioner Echols allowed as how public sentiment was 100 to 1 against continuing. Commissioner Echols decided to ask one of the few pro-Vogtle witnesses, Mary G. Korsnick, CEO and president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, how to persuade the anti-Vogtle constituents he was hearing from, because staying neutral was not anything that mattered to him.

I don't suppose Commissioners have any duty to listen to staff - that's not anywhere in state law. And listen they didn't.

But what about lying - is lying okay?

In this article by the Energy & Policy Institute, emails were obtained through open records act where it was discovered that quotes Commissioner Echols gave to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution were built on lies.

Georgia has some pretty good state law protecting consumers, only it's the wild west remember, and those laws don't matter. Here's one requiring commissioners to set just and reasonable rates:

But it's the wild west and so commissioners just...don't. The record tells the story:

But let's get more specific. How about when the Ga PSC, during the 2019 rate proceeding, allowed Georgia Power to vastly expand a predatory residential demand charge rate plan that they were told by numerous parties, including me, would harm low income Ga Power customers?

Here's one of several research studies I presented to the commission:

But it's the wild west, so Just and Reasonable doesn't matter. Not only did they ignore experts, intervenors, research, and state law, they didn't even bother to ask staff or Georgia Power to conduct a customer impact study. There wasn't even a pretense of "revenue neutral" - which is awful enough. Revenue neutral should not be a thing - saving customers money should be the goal. So in 2021 and 2022 all new Georgia Power customers were enrolled on a residential demand charge rate place they falsely call "Smart Usage". What happened next was predictable: Georgia Power bills went up substantially for the poor suckers who were enrolled onto it. Here's an example of the impact on just one of tens of thousand of customer bills:

And here's another bill example - this customer paid a 120% higher bill in the "smart usage" rate plan:

Those are anecdotal - what about all customers on this rate plan? Well, if you're rich and use massive amounts of consumption in your big home, you saved money. 92% of Ga Power customers didn't. Note this research and graphic were created by a 3rd party - neither Georgia Power nor the PSC did a customer impact study. They just didn't care.

There is no way you can credibly argue that this commission regulates in public interest nor sets just and reasonable rates.

Someday I hope, the Georgia PSC will fill it's mandate to regulate in the public interest. But that day is not here.