ATLANTA – August 13, 2020 – Georgia Power continues to encourage customers to minimize the impact of increased energy use and maximize savings on electric bills by making use of the company’s energy efficiency offerings. Amid a hot summer, everything from simple energy-saving tips to home improvement programs can yield significant energy savings and lower bills.

The company estimates that participating residential customers have recognized approximately $300 million in savings over the past five years through Georgia Power’s energy efficiency programs, developed in consultation with and approval by the Georgia Public Service Commission. In terms of an individual’s savings, these can range from saving several dollars per month to up to 50% reductions in energy use on some efficiency improvements.

In addition to communicating energy efficiency tips for homeowners, renters and businesses, Georgia Power offers programs such as:

– The Home Energy Improvement Program (HEIP). HEIP educates customers on various improvements as well as provides rebates of 50% of the cost up to $600 per year. Energy and monetary savings from improvements continue for years. The program’s Individual Improvement approach allows Georgia Power customers to receive incentives for installing one or more qualifying individual energy efficiency measures, including air sealing, duct sealing, attic insulation and more.

– Georgia Power has also continued offering separate energy efficiency options throughout the pandemic, including rebates for LED lighting and programmable Smart Thermostats.

– Save energy and money by changing a standard light bulb in your home to an ENERGY STAR^®-qualified LED bulb. LEDs use up to 90% less energy than standard bulbs and can last up to 15 times longer.

– When used properly, a programmable Smart Thermostat can help you save energy when you’re asleep or away from home. Use the thermostat’s pre-programmed energy-saving setpoints as a guide for summer, winter and vacation modes. According to ENERGY STAR^®, with proper use, programmable thermostats can save about $180 per year in energy costs.

Tips, Tools & Resources

Whether customers own a home or rent, a variety of energy efficiency programs and resources are available at www.GeorgiaPower.com/Save, which also includes access to energy tips, as well as rebates and incentives for both homes and businesses. The Online Energy Checkup resource provides a customized report to help customers understand their home’s energy use and find ways to save money. Additionally, Georgia Power’s My Power Usage program allows customers to track their daily energy use, project their monthly bill, and set daily or monthly usage alerts.

Energy Assistance Programs
Georgia Power also partners with nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations to offer assistance programs to those in need. These programs include:

– Georgia Power’s Senior Citizen Discount – Georgia Power customers 65 years of age or older who meet the income requirements for eligibility can receive up to $24 a month off their bill.

– Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) – Georgia Power supports the Division of Family & Children Services to help qualifying, low-income households pay their home energy bills.

– The Salvation Army’s Project SHARE – Established in partnership with The Salvation Army, Georgia Power customers can provide assistance to residents in the same community for expenses, such as utility bills, housing, food and medical necessities.

Visit www.GeorgiaPower.com/EnergyAssistance for more information.

In other Georgia Power news:

– Georgia Power recently provided a $75,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to continue to make a difference in the lives of deserving African Americans and underrepresented youth of color by investing in America’s future.

UNCF is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. Its mission is two-fold: to ensure that its network of 37 member historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is a respected model of best practice in moving students to and through college; and to build a robust pipeline of underrepresented students who, because of UNCF’s support, become highly-qualified college graduates.

Annually, UNCF raises more than $100 million to promote minority higher education achievement and has enabled more than 430,000 individuals to graduate from member HBCUs and launch professional careers. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 institutions across the country.

Georgia Power in partnership with Truist Atlanta Open recently provided a donation of $10,000 to The Giving Kitchen, an Atlanta organization dedicated to supporting restaurant owners and food service workers during crisis.

The funds will be used to continue to support local workers during the COVID-19 pandemic including financial and legal services, employment, housing and utilities, family services, and physical and mental wellness.

“The Giving Kitchen helps food service workers in crisis, and during COVID-19 that help is needed more than ever,” said Bryan Schroeder, executive director of The Giving Kitchen. “Thanks to the Truist Atlanta Open & its partner, Georgia Power, for serving those who serve us every day. Funds will support a food service worker facing illness, injury, death in the family, housing disaster with living expenses.”

Individuals can learn more about how they can support The Giving Kitchen by visiting www.thegivingkitchen.org.

– Georgia Power is offering a special payment plan to help customers with past-due account balances accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers who enroll by July 15 will be able to pay past-due balances over a six-month timeframe between October 2020 and March 2021, with no late fees.

The suspension of disconnections also remains in place until July 15, to continue assisting customers through the impacts of COVID-19.

In addition to the special payment plan, Georgia Power is offering customers the following options:

– For customers enrolled in PrePay: Georgia Power customers who are currently enrolled in this plan and have past-due account balances can make payments for current energy usage and have a portion of their payments (25 percent) go toward their outstanding balance. No late fees will be charged if outstanding balances are paid before April 2021.

– For customers not enrolled in PrePay: Georgia Power customers with past-due account balances may be eligible to switch to the PrePay rate plan. Customers can sign up by July 15 to take advantage of its special provision for paying outstanding balances with no late fees if paid before April 2021. Customers on PrePay are not charged a deposit.

Georgia Power customers should sign up for a special payment plan by July 15 at www.georgiapower.com/paymentplan, or by logging into the “My Account” section on www.georgiapower.com. They can also enroll using our automated system by calling customer service at 1-888-660-5890.

Relief on summer bills

On May 28, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) approved Georgia Power’s plan to reduce its fuel rates by 17.2 percent and total billings by approximately $740 million over a two-year period. The implementation of a special interim reduction will provide customers additional relief during the COVID-19 pandemic through even lower fuel rates over the summer months. The lower fuel rate and special interim reduction will lower the total bill of a typical residential customer using an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours by a total of $10.26 per month from June through September 2020.

Georgia Power also announced last month that the typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours would receive an $11.29 credit on their June Georgia Power bill. This reflected implementation of a one-time $51.5 million credit for customers, also approved by the PSC.

Energy Assistance Programs

Georgia Power partners with nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations to offer assistance programs to those in need. These programs include:

– Georgia Power’s Senior Citizen Discount – Georgia Power customers 65 years of age or older who meet the income requirements for eligibility can receive up to $24 a month off their bill.

– Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) – Georgia Power supports the Division of Family & Children Services to help qualifying, low-income households pay their home energy bills.

– The Salvation Army’s Project SHARE –Established in partnership with The Salvation Army, Georgia Power customers can provide assistance to residents in the same community for expenses, such as utility bills, housing, food and medical necessities.

Visit www.GeorgiaPower.com/EnergyAssistance for more information.

Tips, Tools & Resources

Georgia Power encourages its customers to use online tools to help manage their energy use such as the My Power Usage program, a free service connected to many Georgia Power online accounts. My Power Usage allows customers to track their daily energy use, project their monthly bill, and set daily or monthly usage alerts.

Customers can take advantage of the company’s free Online Energy Checkup. The 15-minute quick and easy service provides a customized report to help customers understand their energy use and find ways to save money where you can use your actual power bills to generate a customized report. You will enter information about your home and family to measure how you use energy. Whether customers own a home or rent, tailored tips are available at www.GeorgiaPower.com/Save. This site also includes access to a variety of rebates and incentives for both homes and businesses. Energy efficiency measures for customers include continued development and implementation of new plans and programs approved in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan.

About Georgia Power

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America’s premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company’s promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia’s 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower [facebook.com]), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower [twitter.com]) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power [instagram.com]).