Georgia Power Cut Power to 273,800 Homes in 2025 — SkimNews
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- Georgia Power recorded approximately 273,800 residential disconnection events in 2025, per parent company Southern Company, which noted the figure includes repeat disconnections and account turnover rather than unique households.
- The Energy and Policy Institute ranked Georgia Power 10th nationally for disconnections in 2024, with 187,007 shut-offs out of nearly 2.5 million customers.
- More than 100,000 Georgia Power customers were disconnected between August and November 2025, as summer price increases on unpaid bills translated into disconnections roughly 45 days later.
- Donica Odell, a full-time law firm employee who works remotely, saw her summer bill reach nearly $600 versus about $120 in winter and lost power multiple times a month under Georgia Power's PrePay deferred-payment plan.
- Plant Vogtle's nuclear completion and surging data center demand are driving the higher electricity bills that trigger missed payments and eventual disconnections.
- The Trump administration has proposed eliminating LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, though Congress has continued funding it.
- All 10 utilities with the highest disconnection rates in 2024 were located in the Southeast, per the Energy and Policy Institute.
- Georgia Power is barred from disconnecting during extreme heat, but the protection does not extend to customers on deferred payment plans like Odell's, leaving them vulnerable even during heat advisories.
Why it matters: Georgia Power customers face a compounding squeeze: Plant Vogtle's nuclear costs and data center demand push summer bills to nearly $600 versus about $120 in winter, while the Trump administration's proposed LIHEAP elimination and a gap in Georgia Power's extreme-heat disconnection protections leave low-income and deferred-payment households exposed. California research projects disconnection risk could climb 12% under 2080-2099 climate conditions, and all 10 highest-disconnection utilities in 2024 were in the Southeast, signaling a regional crisis.
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