Georgia PSC elections turn into fight over electricity bills

Georgia PSC – Georgia’s primary elections for seats on the state Public Service Commission are shaping up as a referendum on energy prices. Democrats Shelia Edwards and Peter Hubbard are trying to widen their influence after upset victories in recent years, while Republican

On the day Georgia voters went to the polls for party primaries for seats on the Public Service Commission. the stakes were already familiar to anyone paying an electricity bill in the state: who controls the board that can decide how much electricity costs—and. just as consequential. how it’s generated.

Georgia is one of only ten states that elects its utility commission. a panel with final say over how much millions of Georgians pay for electricity. The PSC also has substantial say over how that electricity is made. Because fossil fuel power plants are a leading producer of greenhouse gases, PSC decisions directly influence Georgia’s climate future.

For years, that control looked locked. From 2006 until last year, all five members of the PSC were Republicans. Then Democrats Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson won upset victories. Since those elections. the commission’s direction has shifted enough that Democrats say it has made it harder for Georgia Power’s proposals to be rubber-stamped.

The primaries on Tuesday set up the next chapter. In November’s elections, Democrats will get another chance to win a majority presence on the commission—an outcome that could mean more renewable energy in Georgia and more scrutiny of Georgia Power’s ongoing expansion plans.

The District Five race is one of the immediate pressure points. Democrat Shelia Edwards defeated opponents Craig Cupid and Angelia Pressley. On the Republican side, Bobby Mehan and Josh Tolbert will face each other in a runoff on June 16. Libertarian Thomas Blooming is also running for the seat.

Edwards framed her candidacy as a bid to change the PSC’s trajectory. “I’m running to be that third vote that’s gonna 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.”

In interviews and campaign pitches, Edwards’s Democratic allies and the Republican challengers agree on one broad goal—clean energy—while pulling in different directions on how the PSC should use its authority.

Edwards, Mehan, and Tolbert have all said they support clean energy. But the Republican candidates clarified they do not support any sort of renewable energy mandate.

Tolbert made that boundary explicit. “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 main pitch to voters has been his technical expertise as an engineer with experience working in multiple types of power plants. Mehan, in contrast, has argued his business experience will help him find innovative solutions to problems. He described himself as a pro-gas, pro-nuclear, “all the above energy guy.”.

The question that hangs over both campaigns is whether “reliable, affordable electricity” can coexist with the fight over the shape and speed of Georgia Power’s expansion.

That fight isn’t happening in theory. It has already shown up in votes—starting in December, after the two Democrats’ resounding election victory but before the new commissioners took their seats.

At that time, 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.

Advocates challenged the plan earlier this year, urging the commission to reconsider some of the new energy. They argued the proposal would generate more electricity than Georgia Power’s own forecast calls for, and they said the commission overstepped its legal authority.

When the new Democratic commissioners took their seats, they voted to reopen the issue. That effort failed: all three Republicans voted against it.

The District Three race could decide whether that pattern changes next.

Control of the commission does not hinge only on Edwards’s race. It will also come down to whether Hubbard can retain his seat. The District Three contest could come down to a rematch between Hubbard and Fitz Johnson. Last year’s election in District Three, which Hubbard won, was only for a one-year term.

Hubbard ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The Republican race, though, was too close to call as of Wednesday afternoon. 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.

Whoever wins District Three will serve a full, six-year term.

Johnson has offered a view that sets him apart from at least some of the commission’s fiercest critics. 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. It’s a hot-button issue as more data centers flock to the state and Georgia Power spends billions of dollars on new resources to serve them.

The election dynamics are unfolding while the broader consequences travel well beyond Georgia. The upset victories that put Hubbard and Johnson into the spotlight have had ripple effects in other utility commission races around the country: In Arizona. national activist groups on both sides of the aisle have gotten involved in the race. In Alabama. lawmakers overhauled their commission in an attempt to shield it from the chance that voters will oust its Republicans.

In Georgia. Tuesday’s primaries were a step toward November—but they already underscored how the debate over clean energy is tied. tightly. to the question of who will sit on the PSC when bills come due. Whether the commission leans toward the proposal Georgia Power has pushed to add 10 gigawatts of mostly natural-gas generation. or whether it finds a different path. could shape both the cost of power and the state’s climate future for years to come.

One thing is clear: this isn’t just politics happening in an office. It’s a decision-making system that determines the size of the bills households write month after month—and the energy choices that determine what those bills mean for the planet.

Georgia PSC Public Service Commission Georgia Power electricity prices renewable energy mandate Shelia Edwards Peter Hubbard Alicia Johnson Josh Tolbert Bobby Mehan data centers 10 gigawatts