On Thursday, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved lower fuel rates for Georgia Power Company's customers. It will take effect Jan. 1, 2013.
A residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity for the month will save approximately $2.60 in summer, which is June through September, and $1.20 during the winter months.
Under Georgia law, Georgia Power is entitled to recover fuel costs associated with generating electricity and such costs are passed through to ratepayers without a profit. Any over- or under-recovery is trued up the next time fuel rates are set.
"We have low natural gas prices to thank for this rate reduction," said Chairman Tim Echols.
"But I believe our investment in new nuclear will be our saving grace when gas prices rise again decades from now."
To prevent the fuel cost recovery imbalance from exceeding $200 million, the commission implemented the Interim Fuel Rider mechanism last May. Since then, natural gas prices have been lower than expected. This triggered the IFR in mid-October and led to the reduction, which was approved Thursday.
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