Cliff H. from Fayetteville. Got a new office building in Atlanta that Georgia Power connected on Schedule PL (power and lighting) when they should be on TOU-GSD-8 (time-of-use general service demand). Building has 180 kW connected load and demand consistently over 30 kW. They've been live for 4 months paying way too much. Georgia Power claims the developer requested PL rate but I've got the original application showing TOU-GSD request. Anyone dealt with Georgia Power new construction rate errors?
Georgia Power new construction wrong from day one - Schedule PL vs TOU-GSD
Marcus T. from Dallas. Different utility but same problem happens all the time. New construction rate assignments often get botched because field crews don't coordinate with customer service on rate selection. With 180 kW load and >30 kW demand, they definitely don't belong on PL rate. Georgia Power should fix this immediately - it's their error, not customer's.
Randy Dawson here. This is unfortunately common with Georgia Power new service connections. For buildings with demand over 30 kW, Schedule TOU-GSD-8 is typically 25-30% less expensive than Schedule PL. Key documentation needed: original service application, correspondence with Georgia Power, and monthly usage data showing consistent demand over 30 kW. File a formal complaint citing Georgia Power's failure to apply the appropriate rate schedule per their filed tariffs. Reference Section 2.1 of Schedule TOU-GSD-8 which covers facilities with demand between 30-499 kW. Georgia Power should provide retroactive billing adjustment to service start date, not just going forward. I've seen them go back to connection date when the error was clearly theirs.
Ted N. from Spokane. Had identical issue with Avista on new construction. The smoking gun was the original service application clearly requesting the demand rate. Took photos of all paperwork and emails before they could claim we requested the wrong rate. Utilities hate admitting connection errors but the documentation forced them to fix it retroactively.
Brett H. in Kansas. Question for Cliff - what's the building's load factor? If they have consistent demand and good load factor, TOU-GSD-8 should save big money. Also check if they qualify for any Georgia Power economic development incentives that could stack with the rate reclassification.
Brett, load factor is pretty good - around 65% average. Building runs normal office hours with some evening cleaning loads. Peak demand hits about 165 kW during summer cooling. No special incentives apply but the TOU rates should work well with their usage pattern. Found the original service application and it clearly shows TOU-GSD-8 request. Georgia Power's project manager must have dropped the ball.
Cheryl B. from Indianapolis. Document everything before confronting Georgia Power. Copy all original paperwork, print email chains, take photos of meter installations. Once they know there's an issue, paperwork has a way of disappearing or getting 'corrected.' Learned this the hard way on a similar case.
Ed C. here from Nashville. Georgia Power can be reasonable when presented with clear evidence of their error. The key is staying professional but firm. Demand the billing adjustment back to service start date - don't accept just forward-going correction. Four months of overcharges on a building that size could be $8,000-$12,000.
Thanks everyone. Meeting with Georgia Power account manager Thursday with all documentation Randy suggested. The billing difference is running about $2,800 monthly so we're looking at $11,200 in overcharges plus ongoing savings. Customer is not happy they've been overpaying since August due to utility error.
Diane from Louisville. How did the meeting go Cliff? I've got a similar case brewing with LG&E on new construction rates. Always helps to know how other utilities handle these situations.
Meeting went better than expected Diane. Georgia Power admitted the error once I showed them the original service application. They're processing the rate change to TOU-GSD-8 effective January billing and agreed to credit the customer $11,847 for overcharges since connection. Took some pressure but their account manager was professional about fixing their mistake. Customer is very relieved.
Lena F. from Tacoma. Great outcome Cliff! This gives me hope for a similar case I'm working on with Puget Sound Energy. New warehouse got put on wrong rate schedule and they've been overpaying for six months. The documentation approach sounds like the key to getting retroactive adjustments.
Lena, definitely document everything first. The original service application was what convinced Georgia Power they made the error. Without that paper trail, it becomes he-said-she-said and utilities usually win those arguments. Good luck with PSE - let us know how it goes!