Hart Electric Membership Corporation (Hart EMC) Rate Selection Guide
Hart EMC is a Georgia electric cooperative serving roughly 39,869 members across six Northeast Georgia counties from its Hartwell headquarters. It runs an Itron Gen5 AMI system integrated with Oracle Meridian billing that delivers daily meter reads, but offers no Green Button, EDI, or API programs — third-party data access is a manual, case-by-case authorization process.
Market Overview
Member-owned Georgia cooperative with rates filed with the Georgia PSC. No competitive retail supply; members take bundled service from Hart EMC.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the Hart Electric Membership Corporation (Hart EMC) Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
Hart EMC serves roughly 40,000 meters across six northeast Georgia counties (Hart, Franklin, Stephens, Elbert, Madison, and Banks areas around Hartwell, Lavonia, and Toccoa) — about 9,500 commercial and 23 industrial accounts among them. Rate schedules are member-board-set, filed with the Georgia PSC, and available at any Hart EMC office; the cooperative does not publish schedule-level dollar figures online, so see the tariff for current rates. Aggregate EIA data puts Hart EMC's average bundled rates near 12.5¢/kWh residential and 11.8¢/kWh commercial — well below Georgia averages. Notably, Georgia's Territorial Act gives new loads of 900 kW or more one-time supplier choice, which Hart EMC actively markets to industrial prospects.
Effective: January 1, 2025 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial / General Service | commercial | Small and medium businesses without large demand; ~9,500 commercial accounts | Service charge plus blocked per-kWh energy charges and wholesale power cost adjustment; demand charges apply above the small-service threshold consistent with Georgia EMC practice. See tariff for current rates. | ~11.8¢/kWh average bundled |
| Large Power / Industrial Service | industrial | Hart EMC's industrial members, typically demand-metered with contract terms | Demand-billed service with energy blocks tied to hours-use of demand, power factor provisions, and minimum charges per contract; rates on file with the Georgia PSC and provided at Hart EMC offices. See tariff for current $/kW and $/kWh. | — |
| Customer Choice Service (Georgia Territorial Act, 900 kW+) | industrial | New or expanding loads of 900 kW or greater connecting in Georgia | One-time supplier election among competing Georgia utilities; Hart EMC offers negotiated competitive rates and billing options for qualifying loads, backed by the state's Integrated Transmission System (ITS). | — |
| Outdoor Lighting Service | commercial | Security and area lighting for residential and commercial members | Fixed monthly charge per fixture by lamp type and size; pricing published on Hart EMC's outdoor lighting page. | — |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Small business or farm operation
Shops, offices, and agricultural operations across Hart EMC's rural territory.
Hart EMC's blended commercial rate (~11.8¢/kWh) runs below Georgia averages, and the cooperative will advise on the best-adapted rate on request — its service rules let members choose among applicable rates, locked for 12 months after a switch.
- Ask Member Services (800-241-4109) to review which available rate best fits your load — the choice is yours under the service rules
- Agricultural producers: file your GATE card annually for sales tax exemption on the account
- Manufacturers: submit Form ST-5M for Georgia sales and use tax exemption on electricity
Manufacturing or processing facility with demand-metered service
Hart EMC's industrial members in the Hartwell/Lavonia/Toccoa corridor.
Industrial service is demand-billed with hours-use energy blocks typical of Georgia EMCs, so load factor and peak control set the blended rate; with only ~23 industrial accounts, Hart EMC handles these relationships directly and can structure contract terms.
- Request your full rate schedule and 12 months of demand history before optimizing — schedules are on file at any Hart EMC office and the GA PSC
- Manage power factor; Georgia EMC schedules commonly bill excess kVAR and adjust billing demand for poor PF
- Use Hart EMC's daily AMI reads (Itron Gen5) to track consumption trends between bills
New or expanding facility of 900 kW or more
Site selections and major expansions qualifying for Georgia customer choice.
Georgia's Territorial Act gives qualifying new loads a one-time, binding supplier election — the single largest rate lever available in the state. Hart EMC competes for these loads with negotiated rates and ITS-backed delivery, and its economic development team supports siting.
- Solicit competing offers (Hart EMC, Georgia Power, neighboring EMCs) before committing — the election is permanent for that premise
- Negotiate rate structure, contract term, and ride-through provisions, not just the headline ¢/kWh
- Engage Hart EMC economic development (angie.brown@hartemc.com) early for site and infrastructure planning
Cost Optimization Strategies
Hart EMC is a wholesale-supplied cooperative with member-set rates already below state averages, so optimization focuses on rate selection rights, tax exemptions, demand/load-factor management on larger accounts, and — for qualifying new loads — Georgia's one-time 900 kW supplier choice.
Exercise rate selection rights
For: All commercial and industrial members
Hart EMC's service rules let members choose among applicable rate schedules and require the cooperative to advise on the best-adapted rate on request. Review annually as load changes; switches are locked for 12 months absent a substantial change in service character.
Georgia tax exemption filings
For: Farms and manufacturing accounts
Agricultural producers (GATE card, renewed annually) and qualifying manufacturers (Form ST-5M) are exempt from Georgia sales and use tax on electricity — an immediate, recurring percentage off every bill once filed with Hart EMC.
Demand and load factor management
For: Large Power / Industrial accounts
Demand-billed industrial accounts should stagger equipment starts, monitor peaks against daily AMI reads, and maintain power factor above the schedule threshold to avoid kVAR charges and demand inflation.
Competitive supplier election for 900 kW+ loads
For: New facilities and major expansions at 900 kW or greater
New or expanding loads of 900 kW+ get a one-time supplier choice under Georgia's Territorial Act. Competitive solicitation among Hart EMC, Georgia Power, and neighbors routinely yields negotiated rates and terms unavailable to captive accounts.
Levelized billing and efficiency programs
For: All member accounts
Levelized billing (rolling 12-month average) smooths cash flow for weather-sensitive operations, and every kWh avoided through lighting, HVAC, and motor efficiency saves the full bundled rate — ask Member Services about available rebates and energy audits.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download Hart Electric Membership Corporation (Hart EMC) interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How do commercial members access billing and usage data from Hart EMC?▾
Log in to the online portal at https://olb.hartemc.com/onlineportal/ to view current bills, payment history, 12+ months of statements, and daily usage from the My Usage section. The Hart EMC Mobile app (iOS/Android) provides the same billing and usage access.
What interval data granularity does Hart EMC's AMI system provide?▾
Hart EMC's Itron Gen5 AMI delivers daily meter reads (midnight-to-midnight) across roughly 38,000 meters, integrated with Oracle Meridian billing. Sub-daily data (hourly, 30-minute, 15-minute) is not publicly available, even though the Gen5 hardware can collect it — request it through Engineering & Operations.
Does Hart EMC support Green Button, EDI, or an API?▾
No. Green Button DMD/CMD, ESPI, EDI trading partner programs, and public APIs are all undocumented. Interestingly, the Oracle Meridian CIS platform Hart EMC uses includes Green Button capabilities, but the cooperative has not enabled them. Direct inquiry to 800-241-4109 is the only path.
How can an energy consultant or solar company get authorized data access?▾
Obtain a written customer authorization stating your use case, then submit it to memberservice@hartemc.com or ed.hoy@hartemc.com (Sr. VP Engineering & Operations). Requests are evaluated case-by-case over 4-8 weeks, may require an NDA or data sharing agreement, and typically result in a manual PDF export limited to the authorized period.
Where are Hart EMC's rate schedules published?▾
Rate schedules are on file with the Georgia Public Service Commission — search services.psc.ga.gov for Hart Electric Membership Corporation. The cooperative also publishes its Service Rules and Regulations (adopted April 22, 2022) and PURPA documents at https://www.hartemc.com/about-hart-emc/documents-forms/.
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