2017 News Releases

12/21/2017
Commission Approves Continued Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Vogtle Project

ATLANTA, December 21, 2017 – The Georgia Public Service Commission today unanimously approved the continued construction of Georgia Power Company’s Plant Vogtle Construction project but with conditions that will reduce the .Company’s revenue requirement by $1.7 billion over the construction and operation of the plant. In its decision on the 17th Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report in Docket 29894, the Commission also ordered Georgia Power to give ratepayers $75 in bill credits by the end of the third quarter in 2018.

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12/7/2017
Commission Approves Expansion of Hearing Program to Serve More Children and Adults

ATLANTA, December 7, 2017 – More children and adults will be able to take advantage of the Commission managed Hearing Aid Distribution Program after the Georgia Public Service Commission renewal of its contract with the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation (GLLF). The GLLF operates the program under Commission supervision. The new contract includes a revised cost-based reimbursement structure for devices and a continuance of the flat-fee reimbursement for providers along with separate line-items for administrative and outreach programs. This revised reimbursement structure will allow for the reduction of client copay rates in order to make the program more accessible to families in need and expand services to rural Georgia. 

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10/2/2017
PSC Chairman Wise Will Not Seek Re-election in 2018
(ATLANTA, October 2, 2017) Georgia Public Service Commission Chairman Stan Wise
announced today he will not qualify in March for re-election to the seat he has held for nearly
23 years as the state's longest continuously-serving statewide-elected Republican.

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9/5/2017
Commission Celebrates September 11-17, 2017 as Lifeline Awareness Week in Georgia

ATLANTA, September 5, 2017 –The Georgia Public Service Commission (Commission) wants to remind all Georgians that September 11-17, 2017 is National Lifeline Awareness Week in Georgia. Access to local emergency services and community resources is vital to our low-income and elderly residents. 

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8/31/2017
GEORGIA PSC RECEIVES REVISED COST AND SCHEDULE FIGURES FOR PLANT VOGTLE CONSTRUCTION

ATLANTA, August 31, 2017 -- The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) today received Georgia Power Company’s 17th Semi-annual Construction Monitoring Report together with its analysis in support of its recommendation to proceed with construction of Plant Vogtle units 3 & 4. 

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8/18/2017
Commissioner Tim Echols Calls for Continued Construction of Plant Vogtle Nuclear Units in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

August 18, 2017 – Atlanta, Georgia – Commissioner Tim Echols, Vice-Chair of the Georgia Public Service Commission, in an opinion column in today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal, calls for the continued construction of the new nuclear power units now underway at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia. Commissioner Echols notes that the future of U.S. leadership in nuclear technology is at stake, as well as keeping our energy sources diversified.

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8/15/2017
Commission Verifies Expenses for Georgia Power’s 16th Nuclear Plant Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report

ATLANTA, August 15, 2017 – The Georgia Public Service Commission today took two actions related to the Plant Vogtle Nuclear Power Construction Project. Under one agenda item, the Commission approved $222 million in expenditures on the Project for the period July 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. Total capital costs of the project are $3.68 billion as of December 31, 2016. This amount remains within the Commission certified construction cost. This decision is not a ruling on whether the expenditures are reasonable and prudent but only acknowledges that the Company has spent the funds on the project. This decision closes out the Sixteenth Semi-annual Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report in Docket 29849.

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8/16/2017
McDonald Testifies Before International Trade Commission in Opposition to Higher Tariffs on Solar Panels

ATLANTA, August 16, 2017 – Georgia Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald testified Tuesday before the United States International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. in opposition to the proposed higher tariffs on imported solar cells and modules.  Specifically, the issue is the proposed Section 201 safeguard case involving solar cell and module manufacturing in the United States.

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8/14/2017
Testimony of Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Georgia Public Service Commission Before the International Trade Commission on August 15, 2015

Testimony of Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald before the U.S. International Trade Commission on the Section 201 Safeguard request for solar cells and module manufacturing

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7/31/2017
STATEMENT OF GEORGIA PSC CHAIRMAN STAN WISE REGARDING IMPLICATIONS ON PLANT VOGTLE OF ANY PROJECT REVIEW OUTCOMES AT PLANT SUMMER IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Consumers, financial analysts and the nuclear industry are closely following the project review underway by South Carolina Electric and Gas and its partner, Santee Cooper, as each weighs the long term viability of continuing the nuclear reactor expansion at Plant Summer. Santee Cooper and/or SCANA may make decisions on whether to move forward on the Plant Summer project before Georgia Power Company petitions the Georgia PSC on its intentions no later than August 31

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8/15/2017
Wise motion on VCM 16

Full Text of Commission Chairman Stan Wise motion.

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5/23/2017
Commissioner Tim Echols Featured Speaker at Western Conference of Utility Regulators

May 23, 2017 – ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—Tim Echols, Vice-Chair of the Georgia Public Service Commission, is a featured presenter at the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, May 21 to May 24, 2017. Echols, who also serves as vice-chair of the Nuclear Waste Subcommittee for the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners (NARUC), will be discussing key trends in future U.S. energy policy, electrical generation and transmission.  

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5/17/2017
Commission Approves Solar Facility for Robins Air Force Base

ATLANTA, May 17, 2017 – The Georgia Public Service Commission (Commission) has unanimously approved the largest solar facility in Georgia that will provide power to a Georgia military base. The 139- Megawatt (MW) solar facility is located just outside Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia. Georgia Power Company will own and operate the facility on land leased from the Central Georgia Joint Development Authority.

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4/21/2017
Commissioner Tim Echols Appointed as Vice-chair of Nuclear Waste Disposal Committee of National Utility Regulators Association

April 21, 2017 – (ATLANTA) – The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has appointed Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols as Vice-chair of the Nuclear Issues-Waste Disposal Subcommittee. NARUC President Robert Powelson of Pennsylvania made the announcement this week.

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4/3/2017
Commission Reminds Georgians to Stay Safe by Calling 811 before Digging: April Is National Safe Digging Month

ATLANTA, April 3, 2017 – The Georgia Public Service Commission joins with Governor Nathan Deal to remind all Georgians that April is National Safe Digging Month. The law requires anyone who plans to excavate where underground utilities are located to call 8-1-1 before they dig. The process is simple and can prevent major damage that can endanger and inconvenience our communities and cause economic disruption. Damage from excavation activities to gas and water pipelines, along with sewer systems and buried distribution power lines, remains a leading cause of utility incidents resulting in death or injury

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3/29/2017
McDonald Applauds Passage of Nuclear Waste Resolution by Georgia State Senate

ATLANTA, March 29, 2017 – Georgia Public Service Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald applauds the passage of Senate Resolution 407 which urges Georgia's Congressional Delegation to enact legislation to re-establish a Nuclear Waste Program per the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NPWA) of 1982. The resolution will be delivered to Georgia's representatives in the 115th Congress.

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2/24/2017
McDonald Says House Bill 479 Would Mean No Solar in Georgia

ATLANTA, February 24, 2017 – Georgia Public Service Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald says House Bill 479, sponsored by State Representative Don Parsons of Marietta, would forbid the Public Service Commission from amending an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) as filed by Georgia Power Company every three years.

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2/21/2017
Commission Verifies Expenses for Georgia Power’s Fifteenth Nuclear Plant Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report

ATLANTA, February 21, 2017 – The Georgia Public Service Commission today unanimously approved Georgia Power's request to approve and verify $141 million in expenditures on the Plant Vogtle Nuclear Power Construction Project for the period January 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016 and total capital costs of $3.68 billion. This amount remains within the Commission certified construction cost. This decision is not a ruling on whether the expenditures are reasonable and prudent but only acknowledges that the Company has spent the funds on the project. This decision closes out the Fifteenth Semi-annual Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report in Docket 29849.

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