Georgia families are facing an energy affordability crisis. Since 2023, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved six consecutive rate hikes, adding an average of $503 a year to household bills. Disconnections spiked 30% higher in 2024, leaving thousands without power — even as Georgia Power reported $2.5 billion in profits.
At the same time, America’s electric grid is aging even as climate change intensifies. Water and energy hungry data centers are adding additional strain, and our vital infrastructure is more and more the target of cyber attacks. These are real issues that make the role of utility regulators important and complex, which is why the Georgia PSC’s insistence on putting profits first is so dangerous.
The People’s Power Plan, developed by the People’s Power Union and GCV Education Fund, is the next step in building a united front against runaway utility costs and climate inaction. It is not just a document, but a call to action for everyone who believes in affordable bills, clean energy, and a more democratic grid.
How We Built This Plan:
- Survey Insights: More than 80% of Georgians said taking action on climate change is urgent, and most want to transition to clean energy within 3–6 years.
- Modeling Results: Expert analysis shows customers could save $10 billion by 2044 with a clean energy transition that avoids overbuilding gas and nuclear capacity.
- Community Stories: From Juliette, where coal ash contamination threatens public health, to Atlanta residents demanding a say in Cop City development, Georgians are ready to take back control from corporate polluters.
As Mark Spivey (pictured), a member of the People’s Power Union, says:
“We can’t separate our health from our neighbors’ health. When the power company puts profits first, we all pay the price. This plan gives us the tools to fight back and build a better future.”
Key Elements of the Plan
The People’s Power Plan is broken up into four broad policy areas: Affordability and Equity, The People and the Planet, Good Jobs, and Energy Democracy. Policies range from ways to lower our bills to protecting our health, but all of them contribute to our future. For example, to lower bills for customers of Georgia Power, we could:
- Cut Georgia Power’s excessive 11.99% profit margin back toward the national average.
- Require utilities to absorb part of volatile fuel costs rather than passing them 100% to customers.
- Stop Risky Spending, including no new nuclear reactors, no unnecessary methane gas plants, no ratepayer-funded corporate advertising.
The Bigger Picture:
Energy isn’t just about keeping the lights on — it’s about justice. Pollution, utility shutoffs, and unchecked corporate power disproportionately harm Black, Brown, and low-income Georgians. The People’s Power Plan unites these fights under one vision: an energy system where every decision puts people first.
Our hope is that this plan represents the first step in uniting communities and environmental organizations around a shared, popular vision for a true energy democracy here in Georgia.
We must act.
The Public Service Commission approved Georgia Power’s massive and unprecedented energy expansion proposal this year. The utility currently has about 14.77 GW of existing total capacity as of the end of 2024. This plan adds almost 10 GW of new capacity – a 67.7% increase, with construction supposed to happen within the next few years. This is larger than the Green New Deal for Georgia, but instead of projects that are cheap to maintain after construction, most of this new expansion is gas power, which pollutes communities and raises our bills.
We can’t afford to wait for them to finish Georgia Power’s Five-Year Plan.
That’s why we’ve made one of our own. Read the People’s Power Plan and join the People’s Power Union at this link.
Because together, we can win.