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Articles by Sam Worley

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Carolyn Yeago looks at her Georgia Power bill and her phone, which shows an app about her electric vehicle.

Carolyn Yeago couldn’t figure it out. The Atlanta resident is a biomedical scientist, and no stranger to complex problems. But one thing she didn’t know how to calculate was her Georgia Power bill. 

Yeago is on Georgia Power’s Overnight Advantage plan, designed for customers who, like her, own an electric vehicle or have other batteries to charge. It offers a lower rate between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., incentivizing EV owners to plug their cars in when demand for electricity is otherwise low. In Georgia Power parlance, that period of time is “super off-peak.” There’s also “off-peak” (7 a.m to 2 p.m., then again from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.) and “peak”— the height of the day, when electricity is most expensive. (Those three time periods apply only from June to September; the rest of the year, it’s just off-peak and super off-peak.)

A standard Georgia Power bill for residential customers lists a “current service” line, which is the main charge, reflecting electricity usage in the past billing period, followed by a few lines for various fees and sales tax. “Wh... Read more

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