Voters in Georgia ousted two Republican energy regulators in a statewide election on Tuesday, shaking up the party’s nearly two decade-long run holding all five seats on the state’s Public Service Commission.
Democrats Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard, who campaigned on the promise to protect ratepayers from skyrocketing energy bills by pushing for more renewable energy, won in a landslide against incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson.
“The election of two new Public Service Commissioners represents a seismic change in Georgia’s energy landscape and reflects a new politics of electricity in America,” Charles Hua, the executive director of PowerLines, a nonprofit focused on reforming utility regulation, said in a statement. “Consumers have sent a clear message: they are paying attention and will hold public officials accountable for decisions that impact their utility bills.”
Public Service Commissioners are key gatekeepers in the energy transition. When utilities want to build new power plants, transmission lines, pipelines, or other energy infrastructure, they first have to get approval from the local PSC. Not only do commissioners preside over what gets built, but also how much of the cost can be put on ratepayers. They are smack dab in the middle of today’s holy trinity of energy politics — climate change, data centers and demand growth, and affordability.
Every state has a Public Service Commission, but only 10 let voters choose who sits on it — elsewhere commissioners are appointed by the governor or legislature. Utility regulation is so esoteric, however, that these races rarely draw much attention. In Georgia, there was an even bigger uphill battle than usual to engage voters, since in many places, the PSC contest was the only race on the ballot. Yet mounting frustration over electricity costs propelled the race into the spotlight.
“I've never seen a Public Service Commission race catch the cultural zeitgeist and break through to the general public like this one has,” Daniel Tait, the research and communications director for the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog group, told me.
There’s also been a long buildup to the race after it was held up for the past two election cycles due to a lawsuit. During that time, the commission approved six rate hikes for customers of Georgia Power, the largest utility in the state, in part to pay for major cost overruns on new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. Rates increased by 33% in the past 2 years, translating to an additional $500 per year for the average household, according to PowerLines. Meanwhile, Georgia Power reported $4 billion in profits last year.
“If Georgia Power comes to the commission and wants a rate increase, they get it,” said Tait. “If they want to build a bunch of gas plants, they get it. If they want to raise their profit margin, they get it.”
Now Georgia Power is proposing a major expansion of natural gas power — more than 5 nuclear reactors’ worth — mostly to meet data center demand. The new commission will be assessing those plans and have power to approve or reject the utility’s proposed generation projects.
Johnson and Hubbard, the two Democrats, have promised to bring greater scrutiny to utility spending. With just two out of five seats, though, they may be limited in what they can do. Tait expects they might be able to find a third vote on some issues, such as strengthening data center rules and taking another look at utility profit margins — especially if sitting Republicans get skittish about their own seats after this election. The PSC in Louisiana previously had a similar three to two makeup, Tait said, and there were a number of votes that did not split on party lines.
Hubbard, however, will have to build his reputation in record time — while a typical term on the commission is six years, the lawsuits screwed up the schedule for Hubbard’s seat, and he’ll be forced to run for re-election next year.
