Why North Atlanta Households Cannot Choose Their Electric Company

A homeowner in Cumming may pay Sawnee EMC for electricity. A family elsewhere in North Atlanta may receive a bill from Georgia Power, while some residents in Buford get their power from the city. Unlike an internet plan or, for many households, a natural-gas supplier, the electric company usually isn’t something a resident can shop around for.

In Georgia, the company serving a home is generally determined by where the property sits. Two homes in the same county, or even the same city, can have different electric providers.

That difference is worth understanding as attention returns to the Georgia Public Service Commission after last week’s elections. The commission makes decisions about Georgia Power’s rates, but its authority does not extend to setting the electricity prices charged by cooperatives or city-owned utilities.

A system built around service territories

The rules go back to Georgia’s Territorial Electric Service Act of 1973. Rather than have multiple utilities string competing lines down the same roads, the state established service rights for electric companies across different territories.

For most homes, that means the provider already serving the property remains the provider. Moving from one side of Alpharetta to another, for example, does not guarantee the same company. And annexation into a city generally does not give homeowners a new choice of electric supplier.

North Atlanta has all three major types of provider. Sawnee EMC serves communities across Forsyth and parts of North Fulton and Gwinnett. Jackson EMC serves much of Gwinnett and other northeast Georgia communities. Georgia Power operates in many other areas, while Buford and Lawrenceville have municipal electric systems.

Who decides what residents pay?

Georgia Power is an investor-owned utility, and its rates are reviewed by the elected Public Service Commission. Sawnee and Jackson are electric membership cooperatives, governed by their cooperative boards. Municipal electric systems answer to their local governments.

The commission’s authority over those public and member-owned providers is narrower, including territorial issues. It does not set their retail electricity rates.

So a Georgia Power rate decision can directly affect one North Atlanta household while leaving a nearby Sawnee EMC or Jackson EMC customer under an entirely different pricing arrangement. It is one reason neighbors discussing their power bills may not be comparing the same system.

There is an exception, but not for most homes

Georgia allows certain new commercial and manufacturing customers with electric loads of at least 900 kilowatts to make a one-time choice of supplier. The Public Service Commission explains that exception, along with limited transfers that require agreement among the parties. The 900-kilowatt threshold is far above the needs of an ordinary home.

For residential customers, the useful choices are mostly within the assigned provider’s offerings: available rate plans, energy-saving programs, solar arrangements and payment assistance. Those options vary by utility.

Anyone buying a home should ask which company serves the meter and, if possible, review a year’s worth of bills. A ZIP code or city name alone may not tell the story. And when the lights go out, the company responsible for that meter is the one to contact, whether or not the house lies inside city limits.

North Atlanta residents can change how much electricity they use, and sometimes how they pay for it. For nearly every household, though, the company that delivers it comes with the address.