Georgia Power filed Friday with the Georgia Public Service Commission a new fuel cost recovery rate. If approved, the new rate will increase the average customer’s bill by about 2.9 percent, or $1.60 a month.

The change reflects the company’s need to cover increased fuel costs.

“Over the last six months we have experienced an extended period of higher natural gas and coal prices, along with the colder than normal weather this winter,” said Ron Hinson, vice president and comptroller.

The proposed addition will raise the fuel cost recovery rate to 1.84 cents per kwh, which is equivalent to about $128 million per year. The company is currently more than $120 million under-recovered on fuel costs.

This is not a permanent increase to customers’ base rate. The fuel cost recovery rate is a pass through cost that is reviewed on a regular basis.

The PSC will hold hearings this summer on the proposal and make a decision later this summer. If approved, the new rate will take effect Sept. 1.

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, serving customers in 57,000 of the state’s 59,000 square miles. Georgia Power’s rates are more than 15 percent below the national average and its 2 million customers are in all but six of Georgia’s 159 counties.