Atlanta Gas Light Base Charge Explained: What AGL Charges on Your Georgia Gas Bill
The Atlanta Gas Light base charge in the PSC's October 2026 comparison is $580.53 a year, about $48.38 a month on average. It is the same whichever marketer bills you; your own amount depends on your premises. Source: PSC October 2026 fixed chart.
An Atlanta Gas Light pass-through charge is the delivery charge on your marketer’s bill. It is separate from the gas rate and the marketer’s own service charge. For the same premises and month, switching marketers does not change it.
This is the most useful and least understood fact about the bill, because it sets a floor under what any marketer can charge you.
Why AGL is on a bill you did not get from AGL
Georgia split the gas business in two with the Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act of 1997. The pipes stayed a regulated monopoly. The sale of the gas was opened to competing marketers certificated by the Public Service Commission.
So Atlanta Gas Light owns the mains, the service line into your house and the meter on it. It reads that meter, it maintains the network, and it is who responds to a leak. It sells you nothing. Your marketer buys the gas, sets the price, and bills you for both its gas and AGL’s delivery in one statement.
What the charge covers
AGL’s base charge covers the pipes, meter reading and a capacity component called DDDC, short for Dedicated Design Day Capacity. That component allocates delivery capacity for the premises’ projected demand on the coldest day of the year; it is not a flat charge for every home.
The current PSC example below separates the annual delivery assumption from the single-month figure. They are different comparisons, not interchangeable monthly prices.
The annual DDDC recalculation
AGL recalculates the DDDC factor annually using information specific to the premises, including usage patterns and gas appliances. Its current rates and tariff guidance says the latest recalculation took effect September 1.
The factor belongs to the premises, not the customer, so it can reflect usage from before you moved in. Charges also vary seasonally. If the DDDC on your bill looks incorrect, AGL advises contacting your marketer.
What this means for shopping
Because the delivery charge is constant across marketers, it cannot be a reason to choose one over another. But it changes how you should read a rate comparison in two ways.
It compresses the real differences. If half your bill is fixed, then a marketer advertising a rate 10% below another is not offering you a 10% saving on your bill. Our annual cost estimate adds the AGL base charge to every plan equally, deliberately, so that the comparison shows what you would actually pay rather than letting the common cost hide the real gap.
It makes flat charges matter more than they look. At the PSC’s assumed annual usage (in the current PSC example below and on the rates hub), one cent per therm is worth only a few dollars a year. One dollar on the marketer’s monthly service charge is worth $12. The flat numbers on a gas plan move your total more than the headline rate does.
Discounts on the AGL half
AGL offers a separate income-qualified delivery discount for customers 65 and over. The account must be in the senior applicant’s name. Check the official eligibility and application for the current income limit and apply through the program. This is separate from a marketer’s senior gas plan; compare those on the Georgia senior-rates page.
In an emergency
Smell gas? Call Atlanta Gas Light at 877-427-4321, then 911 once you are safe.
That number is the same whoever bills you and does not change when you switch marketer. A marketer has no crew and no pipes; AGL does.
The Georgia Public Service Commission does not rank or endorse marketers.
AGL pass-through charge: the October 2026 PSC example
The PSC's standard fixed-plan comparison uses an AGL delivery charge of$580.53 a year, an average of $48.38 a month. Its October 2026 monthly example uses $39.71. That month's figure is not the annual average: delivery charges vary through the year. Source: PSC October 2026 fixed chart.
These are comparison assumptions, not a quote for your address. Your AGL charge depends on your premises and DDDC factor. Compare the part you can shop on the current Georgia gas-rate table, which includes the same annual delivery assumption for each standard plan.
Common questions
- How much is the Atlanta Gas Light base charge?
- The Georgia PSC's October 2026 comparison assumes an AGL base charge of $580.53 a year, about $48.38 a month on average, or $411.05 a year for seniors who qualify for AGL's discount. Your own charge depends on your premises and its DDDC factor, and it varies by month, so check the AGL line on your bill.
- Can I shop for a cheaper Atlanta Gas Light charge?
- No. AGL is a regulated monopoly and its delivery charge is the same whichever marketer bills you. It is the reason two marketers with identical per-therm rates still produce different annual costs only through their own service charges, and the reason no marketer can ever be dramatically cheaper than the rest.
- Why does my AGL base charge change every year?
- AGL recalculates the DDDC capacity factor annually using information about the premises. Its current guidance says the most recent recalculation took effect September 1. Delivery charges also vary by month. If the DDDC looks wrong, contact your marketer.
- What is an Atlanta Gas Light pass-through charge?
- It is AGL's delivery charge passed through on the bill from your gas marketer. It pays for the delivery system and related charges, separate from the marketer's gas price and service charge. Switching marketers does not change the AGL charge for the same premises and month.
- Is Atlanta Gas Light the same as my gas marketer?
- No, and this trips people up because the marketer's bill includes AGL's charges. AGL owns the pipes and the meter and delivers the gas. The marketer buys the gas, sets the rate and sends the bill. You choose the marketer; you cannot choose the deliverer.
- Who do I call for a gas leak?
- Atlanta Gas Light at 877-427-4321, then 911 once you are safe. That number does not change when you switch marketer, because AGL remains responsible for the pipes and the meter no matter who bills you.
More guides
- How to read your bill: Your Georgia gas bill has two halves, one you chose and one you did not. What each charge is, which ones switching can change, and why half the bill is the same for everyone.
- Pool groups and availability: Atlanta Gas Light's system is split into nine geographic pool groups, and marketers restrict some of their best plans to the Atlanta ones. Here is how to tell whether a rate is open to you.
- The PSC pricing index: Every Georgia gas marketer must file its prices with the Public Service Commission each month, and the PSC publishes all of them. What is in those charts, and what they do not tell you.