In February 2025, Georgia Power announced its 2024 profits reached $2.5 billion, a 22% increase over the prior year.
Recent analysis of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) data shows Georgia Power’s outsized profitability compared to its peers: Georgia Power earned an astonishing $92.56 in net operating income per customer per month, totaling $1110 annually. This is 16.7% higher than the next closest utility, Florida Power & Light, and demonstrates a consistent pattern of high profitability over the last decade.
Our organization undertook this analysis to place Georgia Power’s $2.5 billion in profits in context with its peer Investor-Owned Utilities of 2 million customers or greater. While disappointing, the results were not surprising given that Georgia Power’s utility bills have ranked among the top five highest in the nation for a number of years.
The same day that Georgia Power’s #1 placement in profits per customer was made public, Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) staff announced they had reached an agreement with the utility to freeze base rates for three years. These discussions occurred without prior public notice or transparency.
Two days later, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp and PSC Chair Jason Shaw held a press conference lauding the rate freeze, a move that violates PSC rules requiring that Commissioners express no opinion on matters before the Commission.
During the press conference, both officials stated that inflation was the primary cause of Georgia Power’s enormous bill increases of $45/month since 2023. However, Georgia Power rates have actually increased at nearly twice the rate of inflation, and are themselves an inflation driver contributing to rising living costs across the state.
This proposal may appear customer-friendly, but in practice, it defers critical oversight. Specifically, the rate freeze prevents a much-needed reduction in an exorbitant Return on Equity (ROE), enables massive spending initiatives to go unexamined, and eliminates regulatory debate during an election year.
A key mechanism driving the $2.5 billion in last year’s profits is Georgia Power's 11.9% ROE—well above the industry average of 9.57%. Furthermore, the utility retains 20% of any earnings above the 11.9% threshold, meaning there is no effective cap.
This mechanism alone is estimated to generate between $500 million and $740 million in excess annual profits. Reducing the ROE to industry norms was expected to be a central issue in the upcoming rate case, but that discussion would be postponed under the proposed rate freeze if approved.
The freeze would also delay public evaluation of billions of dollars in new capital expenditures. Georgia Power is aggressively expanding the grid driven by a strategic desire to maximize data center business. In 2024, the PSC approved over 6,000 megawatts (MW) of new gas-fired generation and two coal Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). In its 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), Georgia Power proposes reversing planned coal plant retirements while adding another 4,000 MW of gas capacity—without full public visibility.
While the proposal would freeze base rates for three years, it does not constrain spending. PSC staff underscores the magnitude of the spending in their filings.
State law requires that Georgia Power customers reimburse Georgia Power for all capital expenditures, plus profits. Yet the exceptionally large capital investments referenced above would receive no public scrutiny until 2028 under the rate freeze proposal. The risks and consequences for utility bill affordability are enormous.
Georgia Power is leading the largest fossil fuel expansion in the United States, with a total of 14,000 MW of new gas and coal PPAs proposed or under construction. These developments come despite the significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels.
An added concern: the rate freeze allows Georgia Power to recover nearly $1 billion in Hurricane Helene-related grid repairs by classifying them as capital investments rather than maintenance and repair. This accounting approach enables the utility to earn a profit on those expenditures. Thus, Georgia Power contributes to and then profits from the climate crisis.
In summary, Georgia Power's three-year rate freeze preserves a profit margin that far exceeds national utility norms, defers scrutiny of billions of dollars in a heavy fossil fuel grid expansion until 2028, and provides political shelter for incumbent commissioners in an election year. While marketed as a protective measure for ratepayers, it ultimately removes key checks and balances at a time when oversight is most needed.
It is time for Georgians—and utility stakeholders across the country—to reconsider the regulatory framework governing monopoly utilities. The evidence suggests this model is no longer serving the public interest.
Patty Durand founded Georgians for Affordable Energy, a nonprofit organization that seeks utility reform in order to end the trio of Georgia Power’s high bills, high profits and high disconnections. She was a candidate for the Public Service Commission in 2022 and has an extensive energy background.
