I enjoyed fishing at Lake Juliette with Jack “Zero” Ridgeway last Sunday. We were checking out spots for a November Georgia Outdoor News article and caught a lot of bass. The biggest one hooked, a five pounder, jumped a couple of times then got Zero’s line around the trolling motor and broke off.

While we were fishing I kept looking at the smokestacks and cooling towers at the Georgia Power Plant Scherer on the shore. It is a huge facility, the fifth biggest coal fired power plant in the US. It provides electricity for many homes and businesses around here through the Georgia Power Company, Municipal Elect5ric Authority of Georgia, (MEAG) Oglethorpe Power and others.

When we think of Georgia Power we think of power. But when we flip a switch to turn on a light, do a load of clothes or warm food in the microwave it is automatic and we only notice when the power goes out and we don’t have this incredible resource that makes our lives so much easier.

Georgia Power is so much more than just a power company, though. Without them, Lake Juliette, Jackson Lake, Lake Sinclair, Lake Oconee and many others in our area and state would not exist. If you fish or hunt on and around those lakes you can thank Georgia Power.

Many of the boat ramps, picnic areas and campgrounds on Georgia Power lakes are either fully run by Georgia Power or are supported by them with money and facilities. Hunting areas are usually funded by a combination of funds from Georgia Power and the Georgia DNR. And many water fowl projects are a combined effort with Ducks, Unlimited and Georgia Power.

While Zero and I were fishing we heard several quick shotgun blasts early in the morning. Zero said someone must be hunting ducks and I responded there was an early teal season and also goose hunting was open.

All around Lake Juliette there are special waterfowl areas supported by Georgia Power where fields are planted with food ducks and geese like. With the lake right there it is excellent habitat for both. And some of the fields on Rum Creek WMA are managed for doves and are open to the public for shooting at those gray rockets.

Wildlife Management Areas around many lakes are open to the public for deer hunting and many of them are on Georgia Power land. Without them, a lot of deer hunters would have a tough time finding a place to hunt. And they are open small game hunting, too, and managed for all kinds of wildlife. Georgia Power helps fund these areas and provides the land for them.

Fishing is good on Georgia Power lakes and the shoreline on most is owned by the company. Folks with cabins and houses lease many of their lots from the company. Not only do these leases provide great places for the homeowner, the docks they build are great cover for bass, crappie and bream.
Other than the docks, Georgia Power works with the DNR to build fish habitat in the lakes from putting out marked brush piles to planting different kinds of native grasses around the lake. Water quality is monitored by Georgia Power, too.

Lake Sinclair is special to many area bass fishermen in the winter. The warm water discharged from Plant Branch, the coal fired power plant there, warms the lake a little and makes fish bite better in the winter. Due to Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the federal government seems to be trying to shut down such power plants.

Plant Branch is being closed to meet EPA regulations, at a great cost to the company, its employees and its customers. If the current federal government had it way all coal fired power plants would be shut down, and they don’t care how much doing that would raise power costs or the fact electricity might become less reliable due to lowered generating ability.

Some folks complain companies don’t pay enough taxes. They don’t pay any taxes. Their customers and stock owners pay them. So increasing taxes on companies just raise taxes on people like you and me. And you can own some of Georgia Power and get your share of their profits by buying stock. At less than $30 a share right now, it is a good way to build equity and get decent return on your investment.

Everyone complains about their power bill, and Georgia Power offers many ways to conserve electricity and keep it lower. But think what you get for your payment. Could you live around here without an air conditioner in August? Could you do without a refrigerator, microwave, TV, clothes washer or any of the other things you depend on daily?

When you flip a switch to light up a dark room, hunt on a Georgia Power facility or fish on one of their lakes, think about what the company does to make those things happen!