SWGA Politics

The following is a list of all YEA votes on Senate Bill 31.

From the area I normally cover here on SWGA Politics:

State Representatives:
Mike Cheokas (D-Americus)
Carol Fullerton (D-Albany)
Buddy Harden (R-Cordele)
Jay Powell (R-Camilla)

State Senators:
John Crosby (R-Tifton)
John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee)
[Full State List]

My position on SB 31 was NOT against GA Power as a company. Indeed, as was said by virtually everyone on the floor of the House yesterday – both for and against the measure -, GA Power is a good corporate citizen. NO ONE denied that. All of the GA Power employees I’ve ever known have also been some of the nicest people I’ve ever known. Again, I don’t remember anyone on the floor of the House or even in the blogosphere denying that.

Our concerns were simple:

1) SB 31 causes ratepayers to experience a rate increase in a time when paying their power bill is hard enough already. GA Power can borrow the money at 4% interest rate, yet the average GA family has $6,000 in credit card debt with an average interest rate of 14%. This means that for every dollar that GA power is paying $0.04 in interest on for its construction debt, that family is having to pay $0.14 on its credit card debt. Looking at it in just those terms, this means that the family is paying 350% more interest than GA Power.

Furthermore, apparently many of the pro-SB 31 crowd were worried about GA Power’s credit rating (for a company that size, it is called a ‘bond rating’). And here I ask: Which is more likely to experience a lowered credit rating: A company that makes BILLIONS of dollars a year or a family that makes $30K per year? Ga Power has been known for GENERATIONS as one of the safest companies to invest in. This means that people have known for DECADES that Ga Power was going to be there, be stable, and be productive. And that is quite a testimony to the overall company, as not very many companies – particularly in the current economic climate – can say that anymore. So again I ask, who is in more danger of a lowered credit rating and the negative consequences it entails: A mutli-BILLION dollar a year, highly stable, highly reliable company that has been around for decades, or a family of four making $30K a year with $6,000 in credit card debt and who knows how much in a mortgage?

The answer to that seems clear to me.
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