We Own Our Power
Mission
To ensure that the growth of the city is maintained through provisions of quality and responsive services that are held in high regard in promotion of the health and welfare of its citizens.
Responsibility
To install, maintain, and repair electrical power distribution systems and substations.
Most people pay a power company. In Quitman, you are part of one. Since 1975, the City of Quitman has owned a share of some of the largest power plants in the Southeast through the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, known as MEAG Power. This is the story of how that happened, and what it means for you.
MEAG POWER
MEAG Power, a public, nonprofit partnership of 49 Georgia communities providing wholesale power at cost. Learn more at meagpower.org.
Strength in Numbers
Quitman has proudly run its own electric system for generations. The city delivers power over lines it owns, keeps the system running with local crews, and makes decisions right here at home. Fewer than one in ten Georgia communities can say the same.
In the 1970s, Quitman's leaders saw an opportunity to go further. By joining forces with other city-owned utilities across Georgia, Quitman could own a share of the power plants themselves, securing a reliable supply of electricity for decades to come.
Together, forty-seven Georgia towns did what none could do alone. They became owners of some of the largest power plants in the Southeast.
Our History
- 1974Georgia's city-owned utilities gain the chance to buy direct ownership shares in two nuclear projects then under development, Plant Hatch and Plant Vogtle. Doing it requires a new kind of public partnership.
- 1975The Georgia General Assembly creates MEAG Power. On October 1, 1975, the City of Quitman signs its Power Sales Contract as one of 47 founding communities, committing to a share of the plants' costs and earning a share of their power for the life of the project.
- 1975 to 1989Hatch and Vogtle Units 1 and 2 come online. Quitman joins additional MEAG projects as the partnership grows, adding shares of Plant Scherer, Plant Wansley, and the transmission network that ties Georgia together.
- 2018Quitman reaffirms its Power Sales Contracts, as it has under every administration for five decades.
- 2023 to 2024Vogtle Units 3 and 4 come online, the first newly built nuclear reactors in the United States in a generation. MEAG communities, Quitman among them, are co-owners.
- 2025Quitman marks fifty years as a power plant owner.
What We Own Today
Through MEAG, Quitman and 48 other Georgia communities jointly own shares of major generating facilities. MEAG holds a 17.7 percent stake in Plant Hatch and a 22.7 percent stake in all four Vogtle units, along with shares of Plant Scherer, a natural gas plant at Wansley, and more than 1,300 miles of high voltage transmission line.
Plant Hatch
Two reactors on the Altamaha River, generating around the clock since the 1970s. Part of Quitman's original 1975 purchase.
Plant Vogtle
Four reactors, including the two newest in America. The nation's largest generator of carbon-free electricity.
The Grid
MEAG co-owns Georgia's integrated transmission system, the backbone that moves power from the plants to Quitman's city lines.
Where Your Electric Dollar Goes
MEAG Power is a nonprofit. It sells power to Quitman at cost, with no shareholders and no profit margin. The city then delivers that power over its own system. Your bill covers three things:
The power itself
Quitman's share of fuel, plant operations, and the debt that financed the plants.
The local system
The crews, trucks, poles, wires, meters, and storm response that keep the lights on in Quitman.
The owner's return
What the system earns above its costs funds police protection, streets, parks, and city services.
Our Residential Rates
Quitman's residential electric rate is the same every month of the year. There are no summer price jumps.
| Charge | Rate |
|---|---|
| Base charge | $10.00 per month |
| First 450 kWh | $0.1359 per kWh |
| Over 450 kWh | $0.1259 per kWh |
| Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) | $0.0030 per kWh |
| Sales tax | 8% |
The Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) is variable. It is reviewed monthly and may go up or down with the city's wholesale power costs. A planned 1% increase to electric rates, approved by City Council in 2024, takes effect in January 2027.
How We Compare to Georgia Power
The fairest comparison is the average all-in cost per kilowatt-hour before sales tax, which includes base charges, fuel, and fees.
At 1,000 kWh a month, that difference is about $11.50 a month, or roughly $138 a year, before tax.
Georgia Power charges less in winter and more in summer, with higher tiers above 650 kWh from June through September. Quitman's rate stays the same all year, so a Quitman household's savings are usually largest in the hot months, when bills are highest.
Quitman figure: all-in cost at 1,000 kWh under the current residential rate schedule, with a PCA of $0.0030 per kWh. The PCA is variable and may change monthly. A 1% electric rate increase approved by City Council in 2024 takes effect in January 2027. Georgia Power figure: average residential revenue per kWh, U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 861, 2024. Georgia Power's base rates are frozen through 2028, but fuel and other charges can change. Individual bills vary with usage and season.
Built to Last
Like buying a home instead of renting, owning a share of these plants is a long-term investment. Quitman and its partner cities financed the plants together, and that investment is paid down a little more every year.
Owners build equity. Renters never do. The plants we helped build will keep generating power for Quitman long after they are paid off. That is the value of ownership, and it belongs to the people of Quitman.
Why It Matters
Your rates are set at City Hall by officials you elect. The crews that restore your power after a storm are your neighbors. The margin your system earns becomes your city services. And behind your light switch stands a fifty-year ownership stake in the largest carbon-free power plant in America.
Most towns buy their power. Quitman owns a piece of where it comes from.