Georgia · Georgia Public Service Commission (Georgia PSC)

Auditing Georgia Power commercial bills

Most of Georgia, including metro Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Columbus and Macon, excluding areas served by electric membership corporations and municipal utilities.

Georgia Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, serves most of the state's commercial load. Georgia does not have general retail choice, so Georgia Power bills supply and delivery together, with fuel, environmental and other riders adjusted by the Georgia PSC. Under the Territorial Electric Service Act, a new load of 900 kW or more at a premises can choose its supplier, but most commercial sites cannot. Commercial schedules are organized by demand, from Power and Light Small through Power and Light Medium and Power and Light Large, with a general time-of-use schedule and real-time pricing options for larger customers. Schedule codes carry revision numbers, such as PLM followed by a version, that change after rate cases. Georgia Power's demand-billed schedules base billing demand partly on prior peaks, especially summer peaks, so one hot afternoon can raise bills for many months. For multi-site operators, billing demand calculations, schedule fit and accounts at closed sites are the most frequent sources of recoverable overcharges.

Practice notes

Georgia Power billing demand often depends on summer peaks from prior months. When auditing, we rebuild billing demand across the full look-back the tariff uses, not just the current month, because an error in a single summer month can flow into the next eleven bills. One corrected peak can produce a refund on a full year of bills.

Confirm the tariff revision in effect for each billing period. Georgia Power updates schedule versions after rate cases, and the version in effect sets the demand rules and prices. A bill issued just after a rate change can be calculated partly on the old version and partly on the new one, and proration errors around those dates are recoverable.

Close accounts at closed sites promptly. Demand-billed schedules can keep charging billing demand based on past peaks even when a store is dark. Ending the account at closure stops the charges, and for accounts left open by mistake we file to recover charges after the documented closure date, supported by the lease surrender and final read.

Back-billing and refunds

Georgia Power's billing adjustments are governed by the Georgia PSC's rules and Georgia Power's rules and regulations for electric service, which set how the company corrects bills after meter errors and billing mistakes and how far back adjustments go. Overcharge refunds are calculated for the affected periods within those limits. Disputed claims can be taken to the Georgia PSC's consumer affairs staff. We file each claim as soon as the error is documented, since older periods can fall outside the adjustment limits.

Findings we see most often

Demand ratchet errors
Billing demand held at a prior summer peak beyond the period the tariff allows, or calculated from a misread peak.
Wrong rate schedule
Sites on TOU-GSD whose afternoon load makes the standard schedule cheaper, or accounts left on PLM after load fell.
Closed and vacant site billing
Minimum charges and billing demand continuing at closed stores because the account was never closed.
Power factor penalties
Power factor provisions applied using reactive readings that do not match the meter configuration.

Commercial schedules we check

Schedule	Applies to	What we check
PLSPower and Light Small	Small commercial accounts below the demand threshold for Power and Light Medium.	Check whether accounts moved to PLM after a temporary load increase have since qualified to return to PLS.
PLMPower and Light Medium	Commercial accounts with medium demand, below the Power and Light Large threshold.	Rebuild billing demand month by month, including any carry-forward from prior summer peaks, and confirm the calculation matches the tariff revision in effect.
PLLPower and Light Large	Commercial and industrial accounts with large demand, typically 500 kW and above.	Test billing demand against twelve months of interval data and check power factor provisions on sites with large motor loads.
TOU-GSDTime of Use, General Service Demand	Commercial and industrial accounts at one standard voltage and one delivery point that elect time-of-use pricing.	Compare cost under TOU-GSD with the standard PL schedule using interval data, and test on-peak period assignment for summer weekdays.

Schedule names and eligibility summarized from the utility's published tariff. The utility's current tariff book governs.

Georgia Power questions

Billing demand on demand-billed schedules can be based partly on prior summer peaks. We confirm the carry-forward was calculated correctly.

Generally no. Georgia's Territorial Electric Service Act allows supplier choice only for qualifying new loads of 900 kW or more.

Yes. Electric membership corporations publish their own rate schedules, and we audit those accounts against them.

Audit your Georgia Power accounts.

Connect bills for up to 50 meters. Get the findings report in about three weeks. Pay nothing unless money comes back.

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from bill access to first findings report: 21 daysfrom bill access to first findings report
of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part: 94%of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part