Consumers’ Utility Counsel Eliminated by Budget Cuts Small utility customers lose their voice at the PSC

The Georgia Consumers’ Utility Counsel (CUC) was the voice for the little guy. On Tuesday, September 9th, that voice was silenced by a cut to the budget of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

Please click here to email Governor Sonny Perdue today and ask him to restore funding to the Consumers’ Utility Counsel .

What that means for you is that in the coming months and years, when the big utility companies ask the Public Service Commission (PSC) for approval to charge you more money each month for new power plants,
infrastructure or fuel to run those power plants, the CUC will no longer be there to challenge those requests. The five-member PSC is elected and charged with balancing the interests of utility companies and utility customers. But the CUC operated as an advocate for small customers only. To the benefit of families using electricity from Georgia Power or natural gas from one of the several gas companies operating in Georgia, this meant that the CUC took sides in these cases and always looked out for the best interest of the smallest utility customers. This is why they were so important, and effective.

Georgia’s budget is in bad shape and cuts will have to be made. But let’s be clear—times are tough for Georgia’s families also. In the weeks and months ahead, the Georgia PSC will be deciding cases worth billions of dollars. Small consumers need an advocate to make sure these cases are decided fairly.

Please click here to email Governor Sonny Perdue and ask him to restore funding to the Consumers’ Utility Counsel.

Charlene Deutsch
________________________________
Robinson: Georgia consumers lose voice
By Savannah Morning News
2008-09-18 23:30

When Georgia Power shows up for a big hearing at the Georgia Public Service Commission, it is very clear that they mean business.

Recently when the PSC was deciding how much Georgia Power could raise electric rates for fuel costs, an army of skilled attorneys and company representatives and boxes of documents descended on the Commission in white, 15-passenger vans – all in the defense of Georgia Power.

And while the vans and the armies might be reserved for the biggest of cases, it is clear that Georgia Power and other utility companies take the decisions that are made at the PSC very seriously.

But what about consumers?

These, after all, are decisions that impact how much small utility customers pay each month for keeping the lights and the heat on. For consumers, there are no white vans, no armies of attorneys and, after a decision earlier this week, not even a small agency with a staff of three people to defend the little guy.

The Georgia Consumers’ Utility Counsel (CUC) was de-funded and effectively eliminated on Tuesday of this week.

Very simply, the CUC, which was part of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, worked to defend the interests of regular people who often must struggle to pay monthly utility bills. The CUC engaged at the PSC on behalf of small customers in a way that no other party could or would.

And here’s why.

Public Service Commissioners, although elected by the people, are not solely responsible for protecting small ratepayers. As the judge and jury in utility cases, their charge is to balance the interests of ratepayers and utility companies while keeping an eye on the state’s well-being.

The CUC was effective because they made sure the PSC knew how utility proposals would impact households in Georgia. They took sides and they worked solely on behalf of small customers. That was their strength.

Georgians are paying more every day for just about everything. AARP realizes that times are also tough for our state government, but eliminating one of the only defenses consumers have against ever-increasing utility bills is simply unacceptable.

Ask 20 of your friends what state agency approves utility rates and see how many correct responses you get back. The Georgia Public Service Commission might very well be one of the more obscure agencies in our state performing some of our most important work.

In the coming weeks and months, the PSC will be making some decisions that could save lives and others that could cost ratepayers literally billions of dollars. Without question, their decisions will impact your bottom line.

And when the white vans carrying the armies of attorneys and boxes show up, who will be there for you?

Call the Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office and your state legislators today.

Ask them to restore funding to the Georgia’s Consumers’ Utility Counsel. Tell them that by restoring funding to the Consumers’ Utility Counsel, they’ll restore a strong voice for the people.

Cas Robinson is state president of AARP Georgia and resides in Stone Mountain. AARP is a non-partisan, non-profit membership organization representing nearly 1.1 million Georgians.