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Send a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534; fax (706) 265-3276; or email to editor@dawsonnews.com.
DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2023
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
Whats fueling
Georgia Power s
rate increases?
If you happen
to be a Georgia
Power Company
customer, I have
some good news
and some bad
news. Let’s get
the bad news out
of the way first.
Your bill is going up $16 per month starting
June 1. That’s on top of what you are
already paying for your service. And the
good news? It is not really a rate increase.
The company is just passing along its fuel
costs to you for the next three years. Feel
better now?
The Georgia Public Service Commission,
one of our state’s least known and most
impactful elective bodies, approved the
measure unanimously last week to pass
along those fuel costs which amounts to an
additional $6.6 billion for its 2.7 million
customers over the next three years. This is
less than six months after they had approved
a roughly $4 per month actual/factual rate
increase, which amounts to $1.8 billion.
By the way, the PSC has approved two
additional 4.5 percent rate increases which
will go into effect in 2024 and 2025, with
the exact dollar amount still to be decided.
It seems that the $16 per month customers
will be paying for higher fuel costs is due to
the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Georgia Power says it has already amassed
fuel costs of some $2.2 billion that custom
ers will need to cough up, as well as another
$4.5 billion expected fuel expenses in the
next two years.
The decision to pass along those costs
were approved after a five-minute discus
sion. PSC commissioner Bubba McDonald
said approving the $16 increase was “very
painful for all of us.” (Probably not as pain
ful for Bubba. He doesn’t live in an area
served by Georgia Power.) The commis
sioner went on to say, “But it is a reality. We
owe the bill and we’ve got to pay it.” I’m
confused. I thought Georgia Power owed it.
Why do we have to pay it?
That same question was raised by envi
ronmentalists, manufacturing interests and
consumer advocates who spoke in opposi
tion to the increase in what amounted to a
futile spitting-in-the-wind exercise. The
Public Service Commission and staff said,
“Sorry, our hands are tied.” They claim they
are legally bound to allow Georgia Power to
collect “all reasonable fuel expenses” from
its customers. At the risk of sounding like I
fell off a turnip truck, $6 billion doesn’t
sound quite so reasonable to me. It sounds
like a whopping big number. I guess the
adjective is in the eye of the beholder.
The PSC also has been overseeing the
construction of Georgia Power’s two nucle
ar reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta.
When approved in 2012, the third and
fourth reactors were estimated to cost $14
billion, with the first electricity being gener
ated in 2016. My calendar says we are near
ing June 2023 and they aren’t up and run
ning yet. And the $14 billion? It has bal
looned to $32 billion. How has the PSC let
it get to this point? Who is minding the
store?
I am getting eye-glaze writing down all
these numbers and you are probably getting
eye-glaze from reading them but maybe,
like me, you have heard little blowback
from our intrepid public servants under the
Gold Dome who make the laws that allow/
force the Georgia Public Service
Commission to lay off so much of Georgia
Power’s expenses on its customers, includ
ing the $16 increase set to go into effect in
June.
That may be because they don’t want to
bite the hand that feeds them and, my good
ness, does the company feed them well. I
am a former member of the State Ethics
Commission, which has some fancy name
now, and after some digging around their
obfuscated website, I discovered Georgia
Power lobbyists hosted 116 meals during
this past legislative session and spent thou
sands of dollars feeding legislators, their
spouses, the committees that regulates them,
three of the Public Service Commissioners
and the lieutenant governor’s office. No
wonder our intrepid public servants are so
quiet. Their tummies are full.
As a regulated utility, Georgia Power has
a 10.5% guaranteed return on equity, one of
the best in the nation, thanks to the Georgia
Public Service Commission. PSC vice
chairman Tim Echols says this unusually
high return is deserved because of Georgia
Power’s “superior service.” Really? I guess
we will just have to take his word for it.
Like the majority of the members of the
PSC, he doesn’t live in Georgia Power’s ser
vice area, either.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dick-
yarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta,
GA 31139; online at dickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
Babies don t keep, they grow up
It’s graduation
season again. A
time that comes
every spring, but
unlike the others
this one holds a
special signifi
cance.
My son is
done with his high school
career.
And I am not OK.
Normally, this time of year
has made me reflect on what it
was like when I graduated high
school and how differently
things are now versus then. It’s
traditionally been moments of
bittersweet reverie as I remem
bered how I thought the world
was my oyster and would be
full of different opportunities
and outcomes. I’ve watched
other friends’ children graduate
and move through these life
milestones, feeling the mgs at
my heartstrings but never fully
getting hit with all of the emo
tional highs and lows.
It never occurred to me how
difficult it would be when it was
my child.
There’s been kind of a battle
of wills lately, too, with my son
insisting he’s grown and me
insisting he’s really not.
Eighteen is just a number and
it’s still pretty low on the
numeric scale. Just because
someone has reached that age
doesn’t mean one is magically
grown and self-sufficient.
Personally, I don’t
feel like someone is
grown until they’ve
paid taxes and
picked out the best
possible insurance
plan.
I try to tell him
that even when he’s
40, he will still be my baby,
only to have him respond with a
heavy sigh and a roll of his
eyes.
The memories and nostalgia
from his childhood hit me extra
hard too, and I find myself a
weepy mess.
As I looked for something the
other day, I came across
Piggie’s old fireman uniform —
the outfit we had found to be
part of the plush Beanie Baby
piglet’s superhero costume. I
held it to my heart and cried
gently. The little blonde haired
boy who toted a pig everywhere
and then insisted I find another
Piggie so he’d have a backup
one. Both are now tucked away,
as I am the keeper of the
Piggies and their memories as
well.
He doesn’t realize that those
Facebook memories of years
ago hit me in the heart as it real
ly felt like it was just yesterday
that those memories were
made.
No more going to get ice
cream cones and walking to the
nearby park off the square to sit
and eat them.
No more sitting together
watching cartoons or playing
Battleship.
Somehow over the last
decade or so, that little boy did
grow up and change and it all
happened in the mere blink of
an eye, just as I was warned it
would.
This ending opened up new
opportunities and beginnings
for him, and he’s thinking about
what those next big steps may
be.
It’s like that scene in Father
of the Bride, where Steve
Martin sees his daughter as the
little girl telling him she’s get
ting married.
Every time those big life
things come up, all I can see is
that little boy, with his big blue
eyes, holding a stuffed pig,
eager for me to finish whatever
I was doing so I could spend
time with him.
I know sometimes he feels
like I project my anxiety on him
when he starts to tell me his
plans; it’s not my fear but my
experience that I hope he can
learn from. I’ve learned enough
mistakes for both of us and if
my stubborn foolishness can
spare him any heartache or
regret, I hope he’ll learn from it.
I hope he knows I’m proud of
him, even when he’s made a
few mistakes of his own. That is
a large part of that whole grow
ing up process — the mistake
making. We have to do that in
order to really grow up.
I also hope that as he starts to
look ahead at his future, that he
does choose wise counsel. Even
if it’s not me. Life can be full of
a lot of bumps in the road and
tricky things to navigate. Being
able to ask for honest advice
and a truthful opinion can help
tremendously.
Most of all, I hope that he
knows even though I have made
a lion’s share of mistakes, that
everything I did, I did try to do
out of love. Especially those
times he felt like I was mean
and unfair; when you’re a par
ent, love isn’t always cupcakes
and Pokeman cards.
As he ventures into this new
chapter, I hope he carries all of
that with him in his heart. I
know I’ve got it tucked away in
mine.
My friend, Lori, has a saying,
“babies don’t keep.” It’s reso
nating loudly.
I’m far from being the only
mama going through this right
now. There’s undoubtedly
countless more, and probably
some dads, too.
Babies have a way of not
keeping at all. and somehow
just growing up right before our
very eyes.
Sudie Crouch is an award win
ning humor columnist and
author.
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
Ukraine offering Russian soldiers choice to switch sides
By Dr. Larry Anderson
Anderson Family Medicine
The ballistic vests and helmets have
arrived in Ukraine and have been dis
tributed to the National Police. You
should soon see a picture of some of the
recipients. They are glad to have this
new-to-them equipment. They are
thankful for the generosity of Dawson
County Sheriff Jeff Johnson, the County
Commissioners, and the citizens of
Dawson County. I will tell them you
said “you are welcome”. Thanks to the
contributions of medical supplies and
equipment from concerned citizens we
have sent 3 large shipments to Ukraine.
There is more in my office waiting to be
labeled and then shipped. We do send
special request items when it is feasible.
The Ukrainians who have arrived in
our area still need some support.
Donations of household goods are
always put to good use.
The Ukrainians are gaining ground in
Bakhmut slowly but surely. One kilome
ter is not huge but it is a good start. It
has been very costly to the Russians.
The Wagner group (Russian mercenar
ies) has lost 5,000 of the 10,000 prison
ers that had volunteered. Putin has tried
for another 10,000 prisoners, offering a
pardon after 6 months of service.
Recruitment has been slow. I wonder
why? The Ukrainians have shot down
29 of 30 missiles launched in their
direction. A good track record. My
Ukrainian friends tell me the mood in
the country is good and all are working
toward a common goal.
I have a concern about the children
that Putin has taken from Ukraine and
sent to Russia for adoption and indoctri
nation. Recently, I met with several doc
tors who were reared in Vietnam and
attended medical schools there. They
were told that everything American was
bad and evil. When they arrived in the
U.S., it took a while for them to realize
what they were told was not true. Some
even took academic courses in US histo
ry and other areas to understand what
really happened. I wonder if the stolen
Ukrainian children will have the same
experience with their Russian captivity. I
find more people are ending their
prayers with “Peace for the Ukrainians,
and send the Russians home”. Thanks
for reading. And your support.
LETTERTOTHE EDITOR
Show pride at a new
crop of future teachers
Several years ago a famous broad
caster, Tom Brokaw, once comment
ed that it’s easy to work at a job, it
is harder to make a difference. The
six students who signed certificates
of intent to become teachers on this
year’s Future Educators signing day
— Noah Burnett, Hailey Rickett,
Hannah Rickett, Amy Sanders,
Avery Yarbrough and Maddie
Castleberry —have chosen to make
a difference by choosing to teach
school.
It is a difficult job, one that
requires a commitment. We are
proud of your choice and wish you
the best.
Susan Baldwin
Dawsonville
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