ATLANTA, April 27  /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power received approval April 20 from the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to modify its Green Energy program, giving customers more solar options.

At the request of PSC Commission Chair Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, the program has been redesigned to include the following:

Premium Green Energy – This option will now contain 50 percent solar energy at a cost of $5 per 100-kilowatt-hour (kWh) block.  The option previously cost $4.50 per 100 kWh block and contained 10 percent solar energy.  

Under the revised program, the Standard Green Energy, Large Volume Purchase and Special Events Purchase options remain unchanged.  

In addition to these changes, the PSC also approved Georgia Power raising the solar capacity cap under its Renewable Non Renewable (RNR) tariff from 1.5 megawatts (MW) to 2.5 MW.  The company will now purchase solar energy from customers through this tariff at a new price of 17 cents per kWh.

Georgia Power and the Commission worked together to develop a new mechanism that will automatically raise the solar capacity cap as participation in the Green Energy program grows.  Under this mechanism, for every 219 blocks of Premium Green Energy that are purchased by customers, Georgia Power will purchase an additional 100 kW of solar energy through the RNR tariff.  

"With the latest changes in our Green Energy program we hope to make solar energy more attractive to our customers," said Angela Strickland, Georgia Power's director of Energy Efficiency and Conservation. "The new mechanism we've developed will ensure that we're keeping pace with customer demand for solar in a cost-effective manner."

Electricity generated for the Green Energy program helps grow the renewable resource base in Georgia and the Southeast and expand the market for renewable energy credits (RECs).  RECs are created when a renewable energy facility generates electricity or uses renewable fuel.  Customers who purchase RECs through the Green Energy program are paying for the benefit of displacing other non-renewable sources from the electric grid.    

Changes to Georgia Power's redesigned Green Energy program and RNR tariff will go into effect June 1, 2010.  

For more information or to sign up for Green Energy, visit www.georgiapower.com/green.

Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity.  The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national average.  Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties.  

SOURCE Georgia Power