The Georgia Public Service Commission is comprised of five commissioners. The state of Georgia is divided into five districts. Each commissioner who represents a district must reside in that district, but they are elected via a statewide election. The races for commissioners are partisan.

The Georgia Public Service Commission has exclusive power to decide what is a fair and reasonable rate for services under its jurisdiction. It must balance Georgia citizens' need for reliable services and reasonable rates with the need for utilities to earn a reasonable return on investment. The Commission protects consumers' interests while abiding by legal standards in setting rates. All matters scheduled for public hearing are heard by the Commissioners or in special cases, by an appointed hearing officer in open session.

In regulating rates, the Commission does not guarantee profits to service providers. The company is responsible for making prudent, sound business decisions to produce earnings. When regulated companies bring a rate request before the PSC, it may be taken up first by one of the Commission's standing committees on which the commissioners serve: Telecommunications, Facilities Protection, Energy, or Administrative Affairs.

Assisting the commissioners are experts on utility operations. These experts may provide testimony and make recommendations at a rate, in an arbitration, or in other proceedings. To protect the public interest and to fulfill its responsibilities, the Commission may:

• Conduct investigations, hearings, and gather evidence
• Inspect properties, books, and papers of regulated companies
• Determine costs
• Make and enforce rules
• Issue orders to enact Commission decisions
• Institute judicial proceedings to enforce orders, rules and regulations

The Georgia Public Service Commission's administrative sessions are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in hearing room 110 at 244 Washington St. in Atlanta.

These proceedings are open to the public.

Whether or not the PSC regulates a utility is determined by the type of service it provides and by whether investors own the utility. The PSC regulates the rates charged and the services provided by most intrastate, investor-owned telecommunications, natural gas, and electric utilities operating in Georgia, and pipeline safety regulations. The Commission does not set rates for municipally-owned electric and gas utilities or electric membership corporations (EMCs). However, municipally-owned electric companies and EMCs must come before the Commission on some matters such as financing and the resolution of territorial disputes. The Commission also must solve territorial disputes for municipally owned gas companies as well as ensure the safety of all natural gas pipelines in the state. The three main kinds of utilities regulated by the PSC are electric, gas, and telecommunications.

Electric

• Investor-owned electric power companies (1)
• Electric membership corporations (42) (Territory and financing only)
• Municipally-owned electric power companies (52) (Territory only)

Gas

• Investor-owned natural gas companies (1)
• Liquefied Natural Gas Plants (5) (Safety only)
• Master meter operators (131) (Safety only)
• Municipally-owned natural gas companies (84) (Safety and territory only)

Telecommunications

• Alternate operator service providers (160)
• Automatic dialing and announcement devices (115)
• Pay Phone Service Providers (603)
• Institutional telephone service providers (38)
• Interexchange carriers (78)
• Resellers (600)
• Telephone companies (34)
• Telephone service observing equipment users (338)
• Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (221)

The Georgia Public Service Commission does not regulate:

• Butane gas
• Cable television
• Cellular telephones
• Long-distance telephone service
• Propane gas
• Sewer services
• Water services
• Interstate transportation

• In Georgia, three types of electric suppliers serve the public -- Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs), municipalities and investor-owned power companies. Since the Commission regulates only investor-owned utilities, the only electric utility whose rates are set by the PSC is Georgia Power Company, the only investor-owned electric utility in the state. As an investor-owned company, Georgia Power pays taxes. Publicly-owned, non-profit utilities such as EMCs, which pay ad valorem and property taxes but no income taxes, and municipally-owned utilities, which pay no taxes at all, are regulated by their own boards of directors or other similar governing bodies and essentially are not subject to outside regulation. EMCs and municipalities serve the greatest area in Georgia. Georgia Power serves 2.7 million customers / EMC’s combined serve roughly 4.4 million. In 1991, the Georgia Legislature enacted laws requiring integrated resource planning (IRP) by Georgia Power as well as certification by the PSC prior to any new construction of electric plants. The Public Service Commission approves Georgia Power's updated IRP every three years, a 20-year plan for providing power and encouraging conservation.
• There are currently 42 EMCs providing service in Georgia. The PSC's limited regulatory jurisdiction over EMCs includes resolution of territorial matters and approval authority over applications for financing.
• Fifty-two Georgia cities provide electric service to their customers. PSC jurisdiction is limited to territorial matters. The cities must also file their rates with the Commission and on territorial issues. Forty-seven of these cities and Crisp County are the Municipal Electric Association of Georgia (MEAG) members.
• The legal boundaries of each electric utility in Georgia are assigned under the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act. The PSC is responsible for enforcing this law and resolving territorial disputes.

• Today, two investor-owned natural gas distribution companies are regulated by the Georgia Public Service Commission, over which it has safety and rate jurisdiction: Atlanta Gas Light Co. and Liberty Utilities. Liberty Utilities Company provides service in the Columbus and Gainesville areas. The Commission regulates the pipeline and distribution charges of Atlanta Gas Light which distributes gas on behalf of natural gas marketers as part of the 1997 Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act.
• Another source for in-state natural gas service is through one of 84 municipal systems. The PSC has gas safety jurisdiction over municipal systems -- and two intrastate transmission lines -- but does not generally regulate rates or services of municipally-owned systems. The PSC only has rate and territorial jurisdiction over municipal systems when gas service is offered outside county limits.
• Today the PSC has authority over nearly 47,000 miles of gas distribution and transmission lines. These systems transport more than one-third of Georgia's natural gas supply for two million people. Natural gas service is certified in 90 percent of the counties in Georgia. A gas system (a municipal or investor-owned system) must apply for and receive a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the PSC before it can expand into a new area.
• Implementation of deregulation has changed the Natural Gas Industry in Georgia from a regulated monopoly to a competitive marketplace. Marketers provide gas service to residential customers, normally served only by investor-owned utilities or municipalities. Legislation approved in the 2001 General Assembly will allow the Commission to enforce strict billing requirements on the marketers as well as allow the Commission to provide low-income assistance from the Universal Service Fund.

• Telephone service regulation was added to the Commission's responsibilities in 1907. In 1950, the legislature gave the PSC the power to mandate telephone service in areas of the state that were unserved. By giving the Commission this authority, the lawmakers made clear the state's intent to provide all citizens with at least a minimal level of telephone service. However, passage of the Telecommunications and Competition Development Act of 1995 (Senate Bill 137) significantly changed the Commission's regulatory responsibilities. Instead of setting prices for telecommunications services, the PSC now manages and facilitates the transition to competitive markets, establishes and administers a universal access fund to assure reasonable access to services, monitors rates and service quality, and mediates disputes between competitors.
• Although the Commission regulates landline telecommunication services, it does not regulate cellular phone service.
• The Commission's Telecommunications Unit also distributes hearing aids and approves cost allocation manuals for Electric Membership Corporations that provide broadband internet service.

The PSC’s budget includes approximately $10 million in state funds and about $1.5 million in federal funds. The federal funds are supplied for state employees to run the federal pipeline safety program. Since 1922, the state has required utilities regulated by the PSC to pay a fee directly to the Department of Revenue. Likewise, the Commission collects fines and fees based on pipeline safety and the "811 Call Before You Dig" program. Funds collected by the PSC and returned to the state annually total approximately $1.5 million.