--- title: HR 755. House Study Committee on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr755 cite_as: HR 755, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr755 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr755.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr755/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71726 date: 2025-03-31 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr754.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr756.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr755.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 755 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-03-27 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Mitchell Scoggins - Matthew Gambill - Trey Kelley - Charles Cannon - Brian Prince - Tim Fleming text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR755/2025 upstream_id: 2016195 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - electric utilities - franchise fees - unincorporated counties - county government - study committee --- # HR 755. House Study Committee on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas; create ## Text 25 LC 47 3684 House Resolution 755 By: Representatives Scoggins of the 14th, Gambill of the 15th, Kelley of the 16th, Cannon of the 172nd, Prince of the 132nd, and others A RESOLUTION Creating the House Study Committee on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas;1 and for other purposes.2 WHEREAS, substantial growth of large-load electricity customers is having an impact on3 unincorporated areas of this state; and4 WHEREAS, municipalities are authorized to lease their rights-of -way to electric utilities5 pursuant to franchise agreements that allow municipalities to r eceive significant6 compensation from such utilities that are ultimately paid by cu stomers located in both7 incorporated and unincorporated areas of this state; and8 WHEREAS, the right of electricity suppliers to utilize county r ights-of-way to reach their9 customers has a significant economic value that is not currentl y being recognized for the10 benefit of counties and the residents of the unincorporated areas of this state; and11 WHEREAS, for decades, residents of the unincorporated areas of this state have ultimately12 paid municipal franchise fees to cities in which they do not re side as a result of such fees13 being included in the base rate of their power bills; and14 H. R. 755 - 1 - 25 LC 47 3684 WHEREAS, the unprecedented growth of large-load electricity cus tomers necessitates a15 reconsideration of the assessment and allocation of franchise fees for electric services within16 this state; and17 WHEREAS, the state has a compelling governmental interest in en suring that large-load18 electricity customers are assessed franchise fees or other tariffs as a condition of conducting19 their operations in the unincorporated areas of this state.20 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:21 (1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee22 on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas.23 (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of:24 (A) Seven members of the House of Representatives;25 (B) Two county commissioners or chairpersons of a county board of commissioners;26 and27 (C) Two mayors or city council members,28 to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker shall29 designate a member of the House of Representatives to serve as chairperson of the30 committee.31 (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,32 issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or33 legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.34 (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee35 may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or36 convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and37 accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.38 H. R. 755 - 2 - 25 LC 47 3684 (5) Allowances and funding. The legislative members of the committee shall receive39 the allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Offic ial Code of Georgia40 Annotated. The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any41 member of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. 42 Funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds43 appropriated to the House of Representatives.44 (6) Report.45 (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that46 include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the47 same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolut ion, subject to48 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.49 (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not i nclude suggestions for50 proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)51 of this paragraph.52 (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of53 abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.54 A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with55 the Clerk of the House of Representatives.56 (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the57 House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu58 thereof.59 (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.60 H. R. 755 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A House resolution would create a study committee to examine whether large electricity users in unincorporated Georgia counties should pay franchise fees, similar to fees cities already charge utilities. ### Plain-language summary Georgia cities already lease their rights-of-way to electric utilities through franchise agreements, and utilities pass the cost of those fees on to all customers, including people who live in unincorporated county areas outside any city. This resolution says that arrangement means unincorporated residents help pay municipal franchise fees for cities they don't live in, and that the rapid growth of large-load electricity customers (such as big industrial or data center operations) makes it worth reconsidering how those fees are assessed. The resolution creates the House Study Committee on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas, made up of seven House members, two county commissioners, and two mayors or city council members appointed by the Speaker. The committee would study the issue, hold meetings, and can recommend legislation. It must file any report before it is abolished on December 1, 2025, and its funding comes from the House's existing budget. ### What it does - Creates the House Study Committee on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas to study how electric franchise fees affect unincorporated county residents. - Sets committee membership at seven House members, two county commissioners or board chairs, and two mayors or city council members, all appointed by the Speaker. - Authorizes the committee to study the issue and recommend legislation or other action it finds necessary. - Provides legislative members the standard travel and expense allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, capped at five days unless more are authorized. - Requires any approved report to be filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished on December 1, 2025. ### Who it affects The resolution mainly affects members of the General Assembly serving on the committee, county commissioners, city mayors and council members, electric utilities, and residents of unincorporated areas whose power bills may include municipal franchise fees. ### Why it matters If the committee's eventual recommendations become law, unincorporated area residents and large electricity users like data centers could see changes in how franchise fees are assessed and who pays them, potentially affecting county revenue and electric bills statewide. ### Key provisions - Paragraph (1) establishes the House Study Committee on Electric Franchise Fees for Unincorporated Areas. - Paragraph (2) sets membership at seven House members, two county officials, and two municipal officials, all Speaker-appointed, with a House member as chairperson. - Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study franchise fee issues and recommend legislation as needed. - Paragraph (5) ties member allowances to O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8 and limits paid days to five unless extended, funded from the House's existing appropriation. - Paragraph (6) lays out reporting requirements, requiring majority committee approval before any report is filed with the Clerk of the House. - Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-27) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-31) - Sponsors: Mitchell Scoggins, Matthew Gambill, Trey Kelley, Charles Cannon, Brian Prince, Tim Fleming - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71726 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr755.md?full=1