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Georgia Utility Update – November 2015

3/30/16

By: Bobby Baker
Georgia Power Company Rates Set to Go Up January 1, 2016

          Pursuant to the terms of the 2013 rate case settlement, Georgia Power Company filed on October 2 with the Georgia Public Service Commission its rate adjustments that will go into effect January 1, 2016.  Base rates will increase $48.8 million while the net increase for all riders will be $104.6 million.  The average Georgia Power customer will see their base rates increase by approximately 1%.  The range of rate adjustments for all tariffs varied from no increase to 1.4%. This is the third of three annual rate adjustment filings made by the Company pursuant to the terms of the 2013 rate case settlement.

          As part of the annual rate adjustment the Environmental Compliance Cost Recovery (ECCR) rider will increase to 12.7680% from 10.9683%.  The Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery (NCCR) rider will increase from 9.4638% to 9.7357%.  The residential Demand Side Management (DSM) rider will decrease from 1.8276% to 1.7195%, while the commercial DSM rate will increase from 2.1288% to 2.6109%.

          The average residential customer (living outside a city) will pay a total of 25.3757% of their gross monthly bill for the ECCR, NCCR, DSM and MFF riders in addition to a 1.2594% increase to their base rate charge.

Georgia Power Company Ratepayer Riders

          2011           2012            2013            2014           2015          2016

NCCR                             5.8619         6.4362          7.5821            9.3141           9.4638         9.7357
ECCR                             10.0131       10.0131        10.0131          10.4629          10.9683       12.7680
DSM – Res                      1.6273         1.9126          2.3403           1.8198            1.8276         1.7195
DSM – Com                     0.3831         1.0795          1.4484           2.0568           2.1288         2.6109
MFF – Inside                    2.9109          2.9109         2.9109           2.9643            2.9350        2.9989
MFF – Outside                 1.0801         1.0801          1.0801            1.0882          1.0891          1.1525
 
Vogtle Owners Reach $760 Million Settlement with Their Contractors

          Earlier this month the owners of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 entered a settlement agreement with their Contractors for the Project.  The Owners agreed to pay $760 million to the Contractors to resolve all outstanding contract disputes.  Georgia Power Company’s share of the settlement payment is $350 million while Oglethorpe Power’s share is $230 million and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia will pay $174 million.

          As part of the settlement deal Westinghouse Electric Company agreed to buy CB&I Stone & Webster for $229 million, and become the prime contractor for the Project.  CB&I Stone & Webster was the contractor responsible for construction on the Vogtle Project.  CB&I also reported that it would take noncash, pre-tax charges of $1 billion to $1.2 billion to reflect the reduced value of their nuclear business.  Subject to the close of Wesinghouse’s acquisition of CB&I, Fluor Corp. will take over management of Vogtle construction.