Georgia PSC elections hinge on electricity prices and power

Georgia PSC – Georgia’s utility commission elections are shaping up as a referendum on energy prices, with Democrats hoping to block rubber-stamp decisions and push cleaner power while Republicans argue for reliable, affordable electricity without mandates. This week, party

On Tuesday, Georgia held party primaries for two seats on the state public service commission — a body that has final say over how much nearly 3 million Georgians pay for electricity. For voters, it doesn’t feel like a distant technical contest. It feels like a bill arriving every month.

The PSC also has substantial say over how that electricity is made. Because fossil fuel power plants are a leading producer of greenhouse gases, the commission’s decisions directly influence Georgia’s climate future.

Georgia has elected its utility commission for years — and the stakes have stayed unusually high. From 2006 until last year, all five PSC members were Republicans. That changed when Democrats Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson won upset victories. making it harder for Georgia Power to have its decisions rubber-stamped.

Those elections have rippled outward. In Arizona, national activist groups on both sides of the aisle have gotten involved in a utility commission race. In Alabama, lawmakers overhauled their commission in an attempt to shield it from the chance that voters will oust its Republicans.

Now the next round of that pressure is arriving in Georgia.

In the District 5 race, Democrat Shelia Edwards defeated opponents Craig Cupid and Angelia Pressley in the primary. Republicans Bobby Mehan and Josh Tolbert will face off in a runoff on June 16. Libertarian Thomas Blooming is also running for the seat.

Edwards framed her campaign around breaking the commission’s long-standing imbalance. “I’m running to be that third vote that’s going to help them change the trajectory of the PSC. ” she said in an interview before the primary. “And to bring some balance to something that’s been completely imbalanced for years.”.

Mehan, Tolbert, and Edwards all say they support clean energy — but the difference is in what comes with that promise. The Republican candidates clarified they do not support any sort of renewable energy mandate.

Tolbert put the boundary plainly. “I do not think there is a place on the commission for advocates,” he said. “It’s not a legislative body. It doesn’t set particular policies. Its job is to ensure that Georgians have reliable, affordable electricity.”

Tolbert’s pitch to voters leans on technical credibility. He described himself as an engineer with experience working in multiple types of power plants. Mehan emphasized a different kind of experience, saying his business background helps him find innovative solutions to problems. Mehan also described himself as a pro-gas, pro-nuclear, “all-the-above energy guy.”.

Control of the commission, though, doesn’t hinge only on Edwards’ race.

Whether Hubbard can retain his seat is also central. The race for District 3 could come down to a rematch between Hubbard and Fitz Johnson. Last year’s election in District 3, which Hubbard won, was only for a one-year term.

In that cycle, Hubbard ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The Republican race proved far tighter. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was too close to call. Johnson leads his primary opponent, Brandon Martin, by less than 3,000 votes. The results fall within the margin for a recount should Martin request one. Martin did not reply to requests for comment on the result.

The winner of District 3 will serve a full six-year term.

For Johnson. one issue stands out in a primary season where many candidates are talking about energy in broad strokes: data centers and the cost of supporting them. Unlike most candidates from both parties in the primary. Johnson says the commission has done enough to protect ordinary ratepayers from the costs of serving data centers — a hot-button issue as more data centers flock to Georgia and Georgia Power spends billions of dollars on new resources to serve them.

The elections are also closely tied to the commission’s decisions on Georgia Power’s expansion plans — the kind of vote that can change what electricity will cost and where emissions will land.

In December, after the two Democrats’ resounding election victory but before the new commissioners took their seats, the five Republican commissioners voted unanimously to approve Georgia Power’s proposal to add 10 gigawatts of energy, most of it made with natural gas.

Earlier this year, advocates pushed the commission to reconsider some of the new energy. They argued the plan would generate more electricity than the utility’s own forecast calls for. They also said the commission had overstepped its legal authority.

The new Democratic commissioners voted to reopen the issue, but that effort failed. All three Republicans voted against it.

The Tuesday primaries set the table for November — the next chance for Democrats to win a majority presence on the PSC. If the coalition holds. the commission could face more pressure for renewable energy in Georgia and more scrutiny of Georgia Power’s ongoing expansion plans. If it doesn’t. the questions that voters are carrying into the ballot box — reliable power. affordable rates. and what gets built next — will likely remain the defining point of conflict.

Georgia PSC public service commission electricity prices Georgia Power renewable energy clean energy natural gas data centers climate future utility commission elections Shelia Edwards Alicia Johnson Peter Hubbard