The threat of bigger power bills during a recession is shocking Georgia's most prominent consumer watchdog, yet the plan to finance new nuclear power plants is just the first consumer item on a legislative agenda that may put sub-prime mortgage brokers in the dog house and muzzle some tax preparers.

"The consumers are going to be footing the bill for prepaying the financing costs plus getting the kick in the gut of paying the construction costs after the thing comes online," according to Allison Wall, executive director of consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch, one of the main opponents of the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act.

Senate Bill 31 would allow Georgia Power to start tacking a surcharge on its customers' bills as early as 2009 to finance building of two nuclear plants near Augusta which will only come online in 2017. That means people who leave Georgia in the meantime, or die, will pay for something they won't get the chance to use.

The fee would start at about $1.30 a month for homeowners, growing to $9.10 per month by 2017, according to the calculations of the bill's sponsor, Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville).

Wall believes that the Georgia Power's $6.4 billion share of the $14 billion project will go over budget like a similar project in Alabama. "I sort of think we should go ahead and triple those amounts," she estimates.

She also expects time overruns, arguing that if Georgia Power is already getting the money for plants that aren't in operation, it has no incentive to finish on time.

Besides that, in bad economic times, consumers can make better use of their own money than Georgia Power can, argue both Georgia Watch and the Georgia Public Service Commission – the elected body that sets electricity rates. Both say the utility should take the cheap loans that it can get at about 7.35 percent, leaving consumers to apply their capital to their more expensive loans like credit cards.

Under SB 31, consumers would also take an untimely hit from income taxes that Georgia Power must pay earlier under the new method of financing than under the regular method, according to testimony from a utilities consultant on behalf of the state PSC.

Georgia Watch calls SB 31 an attempted "end run" around the PSC, straight to the legislature. Usually the PSC decides when and why Georgia Power can raise rates, and generally only lets the utility recoup construction and construction finance costs after a new facility starts running – to make sure only actual users pay for a utility. In fact, Georgia Power has presented its case for early rate hikes to the PSC – which is still deliberating on the proposal at the same time as the legislature.

The PSC is the appropriate venue for rate-setting, says Wall, because that's where the experts are.

"[We're] not really sure why we're taking up legislators' time and taxpayer money duplicating these efforts in the General Assembly," she adds.

But the rate hikes won't hit everyone the same – major industrial and commercial customers are exempt, according to the PSC analysis of the bill's language.

Sen. Balfour has said the language doesn't constitute an exemption.

Georgia Power believes the new financing plan will save money in the long run. It will reduce the amount of money the company must borrow from other lenders to pay for its first new facilities in many years. And besides, the longer lead time will introduce rate hikes slowly, not in a major jump, says company spokeswoman Carol Boatright. The utility also claims the bill will protect its credit rating, though the PSC opines that Georgia Power's rating is in no danger.

But if the bill doesn't pass, the company has not yet offered a Plan B for funding, Boatright says.

Wall thinks the bill's chances are "totally up in the air," though she's hopeful some early supporters may be backing down. A committee hearing on the bill last week attracted an audience that spilled into the hall. Another hearing is scheduled this week.

For Thursday: Cleaning up the mortgage broker industry

Maggie Lee specializes in quality of life topics, Atlanta's international communities and general reporting. She covers Georgia economic development and the Chinese community as a stringer for China Daily and chronicles life in Georgia's most diverse county for the DeKalb Champion.   [full bio]

Editor's note: Hello, Georgia! Chilly today, right? And this is the Deep South. Speaking of the South, one item that never loses its appeal among readers is the Civil War. True, it's been over with for 144 years, but many families, whether Blue or Gray, still honor their ancestors who fought the war. Georgia Online News Service writer Bill Hendrick writes today about a new book that profiles many of the soldiers from Georgia who fought in the conflict. It's not exactly breaking news, but it's fascinating.

On the legislative front lines – in a war that's often uncivil – Maggie Lee reports on consumer issues in the first of two articles. Today's story focuses on Georgia Power's pay-now-get-electricity-later plan. And today's Soapbox is by Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears. She warns: "Even in good economic times, the administration of justice is difficult to fulfill given the sheer volume and complexity of problems Georgians bring to their courthouses. Because of the effects of the nation's bad economy, people will need access to justice now more than ever."

Finally, I was intrigued by Sen. Eric Johnson's bill to make school vouchers available to just about everyone in Georgia. My take? At the heart of Johnson's bill is the belief that public education can't be fixed. I disagree, and argue that we should stop savaging school spending and focus on proven remedies, such as expanding pre-K.

One of our most popular features is proving to be Soapbox, and its editor is David Beasley, who for many years was the op-ed editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. If you have an opinion piece on a subject of importance to Georgians, or a suggestion of a topic we should explore, send it to Beasley at david.beasley@georgiaonlinenews.org.

As always, send your comments and suggestions to john.sugg@georgiaonlinenews.org or call 800-891-3459. The Georgia Online News Service is being offered free for a limited time. We don't believe quality journalism has to disappear because of the economy or the dismal state of many newspapers. Your opinion on how we're doing – and what other content we could provide – is very important to us.

New book chronicles Civil War from viewpoint of ordinary soldiers

Delony, who graduated with honors from UGA in 1846, is profiled in a new book, "Faces of the Confederacy," authored by Ronald S. Coddington, who earned his degree from UGA in 1985.

Coddington, now art director for USA Today, didn't set out to profile Delony, who died in a Union hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg and was buried in Washington, D.C., until reinterred in Oconee Hills.

Indeed, Delony is just one of 77 Confederate soldiers, including many from Georgia, who're pictured and profiled in Coddington's new and meticulously researched book.

Only those who hate schools would vouch for vouchers

The issue is education, something we're all fretting about. Johnson's remedy – in the sense that sticking your hand in a blazing inferno will remedy your concern about a mosquito bite on one of your fingers – is vouchers.

Georgia Power's pay-in-advance funding tops consumer issues at Legislature

"The consumers are going to be footing the bill for prepaying the financing costs plus getting the kick in the gut of paying the construction costs after the thing comes online," according to Allison Wall, executive director of consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch, one of the main opponents of the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act.

SOAPBOX

Georgia's chief justice: Because of bad economy, 'people will need access to justice now more than ever'