January

Georgia Power filed its 2010 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), outlining its plans to encourage energy efficiency and meet the forecast increase in demand for electricity. Georgia Power files an IRP every three years. The filing is an update to the company's 20-year resource plan.

In keeping with the year’s “Beyond Ordinary” theme, more than 1,100 Georgia Power and Southern Company employees volunteered for King Day 2010, working on 46 different service projects across the state.

The millionth Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meter in the state of Georgia was installed, a significant milestone as Georgia Power installs the new meters for all 2.5 million customers.

Crews restored service to a total of more than 54,000 customers after a weekend of rain, freezing rain, and snow unfolded in north Georgia.

February

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offered Southern Company and Georgia Power a conditional commitment for loan guarantees for the construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, the first nuclear power units in more than 30 years.

A winter weather event occurred, causing 100,000 outages. Augusta and the East Region were the hardest hit by the storm, with a lesser amount in Rome and northwest Georgia. Much of north Georgia recorded one to three inches of snow, but Augusta saw six inches or more when the storm blew in from the Gulf states.

The PSC  approved Georgia Power’s first semi-annual Vogtle construction monitoring report.

The stipulation lowered the certified cost of the plant from $6.446 billion to $6.113 billion, to reflect a savings of $300 million. This savings is the result of allowing the company to recover financing costs during construction of the two new units.

A new web site for Georgia Power retirees was launched. The site, found here, allows retirees to keep up with what’s going on at the company.

March

The PSC approved Georgia Power's request for a fuel cost recovery adjustment to allow it to recover higher fuel costs. The new rates, effective April 1, resulted in an average increase of 5.43 percent, or about $5.59 a month, per 1,000 kilowatt-hours. The increase added approximately $373 million to Georgia Power's total annual fuel-cost-recovery billings to customers.

Georgia Power crews traveled to New York City to restore electrical service interrupted by a violent wind and rain storm that moved through the Northeast. Storm teams from Georgia Power assisted Consolidated Edison around Westchester County and elsewhere in the New York City suburbs.

Cox Communications unveiled a second rooftop-photovoltaic system that will be used to provide solar energy for Georgia Power's Green Energy program. The new system should generate roughly 104,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, making it the second-largest solar system connected to the Georgia Power grid.

April

Georgia Power celebrated Earth Day by conducting a number of environmentally-focused service projects throughout the state.
In partnership with Citizens of Georgia Power, employees participated in more than 30 projects to protect the environment, ranging from roadside cleanups and beautification to distributing recycling bins and collecting old cell phones and ink cartridges.

Construction of the last of the four baghouses at Plant Scherer was completed. The baghouse, attached to Unit 4, culminated a three-year construction project that involved about 700 contract workers.

May

The PSC voted to allow Georgia Power to defer the retirements of coal-powered units 1 and 2 at Plant McDonough for six months and one year, respectively.

Georgia Power President and CEO Mike Garrett was named CEO of the Year by the Atlanta Business League (ABL). According to the ABL, the CEO of the Year award recognizes the true measure of a CEO's success — commitment and fairness to people — while maximizing shareholder profits.

June

Georgia Power energy-saving K9 Unit came back for one more year. The company announced it would use last year’s advertising campaign, which featured dogs trained to sniff out savings. A similar campaign was used in an internal video to promote the company's safety and wellness initiatives.

Two key air quality permits from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) related to the construction of units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle were finalized. The permits covered construction and operation of stationary air-emitting equipment used for Vogtle units 3 and 4 operations. They included standby and ancillary generators, cooling towers, and other equipment vital to the operation of the plant.

After 14 months of construction, the 19.5 mile long natural gas pipeline that will supply new combined cycle units at Plant McDonough was completed.

July

Georgia Power asked the Georgia PSC for permission to increase its base rates approximately $615 million, or 8.2 percent of the company's retail rates, to recover the costs of investments in cleaner generation sources, power lines, smart grid technologies, environmental controls and energy-efficiency programs to meet current and future customer demand.

Georgia Power's residential customers ranked the company in the top quartile for the Residential Customer Value Benchmark survey. Residential customers are the first category in the overall Customer Value Benchmark survey, which compares Southern Company and its four operating companies to 16 peer utilities across the nation.

The Georgia Power Board of Directors elected Paul Bowers chief operating officer, effective Aug. 13.

August

Georgia Power lineman Kylan Starnes Warren, 25, died from injuries he received in an accident that occurred July 14 in north Fulton County. A Georgia Power crew, while replacing a pole on Birmingham Highway in north Fulton County, came into contact with an underground natural gas line on July 14 at around 1:30 p.m., which caused an explosion and fire. Warren received extensive burns from the fire, and also injuries from his fall from the bucket. The entire company mourned his loss.

September

The initial plates that will make up the "bottom head" of the Unit 3 containment vessel at Plant Vogtle arrived on site. The two nuclear reactors are under construction at Vogtle and will begin commercial operation in 2016 and 2017. The new units will be the first in the industry to use the Westinghouse AP1000 advanced pressurized water reactor technology.

Georgia Power filed the Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery tariff with the Georgia PSC. The tariff, authorized by the Georgia General Assembly in 2009, allows for recovery of financing costs during construction of Units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle, as required by the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act.

Plant Yates became the first Southern Company plant to capture carbon dioxide, a milestone that significantly advances the development of technology considered critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation.

Despite the unrelenting heat of peak season (May 1-Sept. 30), Georgia Power’s preliminary equivalent forced outage rate, or EFOR, was 1.9 percent, significantly below the industry-wide average of about 7 percent.

October

Garrett testified before the PSC during hearings on Georgia Power’s request for an increase in its base rates.

Gov. Sonny Perdue unveiled the cornerstone of his Go Fish Georgia initiative – an education center in Perry, Ga. -  that Georgia Power played a key role in developing.

November

Nissan's first all-electric car, the Leaf, made its Atlanta debut in a ride-and-drive event at Georgia Power headquarters in Atlanta.

Georgia Power commemorated a 25-year partnership with The Salvation Army, celebrating more than $52 million in contributions from the company and its customers to help needy Georgians with basic necessities through Project SHARE.

Garrett announced he was retiring from “the best job I ever had,” effective Dec. 31. Garrett began his Southern Company career in 1968 at Georgia Power and was president and CEO of Georgia Power since 2004. Chief Operating Officer Paul Bowers was announced as his successor.

December

The Georgia PSC approved a plan to raise Georgia Power's base rates, which will mean an increase of about 10 percent, or $10.76 per month for the typical residential customer, beginning Jan. 1, 2011.

Five public hearings were held to discuss the new Thomson-Vogtle transmission line. The 500-kV transmission line must be built to add necessary transmission infrastructure to support two new nuclear units being built at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro.