Georgia Law Governing Electrical Membership Corporations

Half of Georgia gets its power from electric membership corporations.

There are 42 electric membership corporations in Georgia; together, they provide electricity to nearly half of Georgia's population. Some of Georgia's electrical membership corporations operate specifically as part of a city or county government and can also be referred to as municipal electric corporations.

Regulation

Georgia's electricity regulating body, the Georgia Public Service Commission, regulates the rates and service of electric utilities, but does not regulate electric membership corporations.

Statute

The Official Code of Georgia goes into detail on the specific rights and responsibilities of electric membership corporations. For example, Georgia electric membership corporations must be organized as non-profits; rates charged must be sufficient to meet cost and maintain a capital improvement reserve, but should not turn a profit.

Other Law

Electrical membership corporations are also governed by laws not specific to them, such as for property rights, taxation, employment and corporate reporting. These laws can be found in other titles of the Official Code of Georgia.

References

• Georgia Electric Member Cooperative : Powering Georgia's Energy Future
• Georgia Public Service Commission : Electric
• Lexis Nexis : Official Code of Georgia

Resources

• The Regulatory Assistance Project