- Since 2022, Georgia power bills have climbed about 37%, nearly $700 more a year for the average family.
- Two of the five seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission are up for grabs in the November 4, 2025 election; the winners are set to shape the state’s energy mix and prices through 2031.
- Watch the video to see why power bills have increased, what candidates say about who should pay, and what’s next.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
If your power bill's been jumping lately, you're not alone, Georgians have faced six rate hikes since 2022.
Each hike adds up.
According to Peter Hubbard, a democratic PSC candidate, the hikes have raised the average family's bill by about 37%, nearly $700 more a year.
He says some of that money went toward Plant Vogtle's $37-billion expansion for two nuclear reactors located in the southeastern part of the state and Georgia Power's 12% guaranteed profit margin.
"The shortest way to say that is they've gone crazy. I've been a Georgia resident for 25 years. I've never seen increases like this before. I'm a guy who has solar and batteries and I'm still looking at these bills thinking, this is nuts," said Bainbridge resident John Noel.
Noel, a business owner, estimates his electric bills are up about 26% in three years, and that's pushed him to add more solar panels and battery backups just to stay ahead of rising costs.
"The problem with the Public Service Commission is they're rubber-stamping everything Georgia Power gives them. If you give a monopoly, you've got to regulate it. Right now, they just get whatever they want, and that's why our bills keep climbing," said Noel.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has five statewide members who decide how much Georgia Power can charge.
It's one of the smallest agencies in the state, but it directly affects how much you pay every month.
Democratic PSC candidate Hubbard says the PSC's current Republican majority has favored gas-fired plants and profit margins over cheaper clean-energy options.
He argues most new construction is driven by Georgia's 100-plus data centers, which together use enough power to run hundreds of thousands of homes.
"Most of the new infrastructure we're building right now is almost exclusively for data centers. I'm deeply concerned they won't stick around for the 40 years it takes to pay off that infrastructure," said Hubbard said.
But Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols says that's not true and that new rules ensure data centers pay their share of expansion costs.
"We've created a policy that says data centers have to pay all their own incremental cost for generating and transmitting the power. They have to pay for that, so it's not going to fall back on residential ratepayers," said Echols.
Echols points to a three-year base-rate freeze that began in January, saying it gives Georgians a break while prices stabilize.
Still, exceptions remain like fuel costs, hurricanes, or storm recovery meaning your total bill can still rise.
"They talked about how the base rates were frozen. I called Georgia Power and said, how are my rates frozen? They said, 'oh, just the fifteen-dollar base charge. The rest of your bill still goes up.' That's a total bait-and-switch," said Noel.
Voters will decide two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission currently held by Republicans Echols and Fitz Johnson with Democrats Hubbard and Alicia Johnson challenging them.
With so many voices pointing fingers—from profits and power plants to data centers and policy—voters will decide who sets the tone for the next five years of electric rates in Georgia.
The last day of early voting is October 31, and Election Day follows on November 4.
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