Power Bills Are Squeezing Georgians. Voters Could Do Something About It.
Tony Gantt was sitting in his living room in southern Georgia with the lights off, a deliberate choice, showing a visitor his social media exchange with an elected official over skyrocketing electric bills.
'My GA Power bill in Nov 2022 was $159,' Mr. Gantt posted on X last fall, attaching screenshots. 'My bill now is $615 plus. Robbery.'
He got a response from Tim Echols, a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. Suspecting a malfunctioning air-conditioner, Mr. Echols asked Mr. Gantt for more details.
Actually, Mr. Gantt replied, his air-conditioner was new. The only explanation for his 'obscene' bills, he told Mr. Echols, was a series of rate increases that the commission had approved, despite 'people begging you to not raise rates.'
Mr. Gantt will have a chance to amplify his voice on Tuesday, when Mr. Echols will compete in a special primary election. It will be the first time in five years that any of the commission's five members have faced voters.
Georgia is one of only 10 states with elected, rather than appointed, utility regulators, who play a key role in energy and climate policy. So this week's primary and the general election in November, when Mr. Echols's seat and another will be up for grabs, will be a rare referendum on residential electric bills, at a time when prices have risen sharply across the country.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The GOP's big bill would bring changes to Medicaid for millions
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has been clear about his red line as the Senate takes up the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act: no Medicaid cuts. But what, exactly, would be a cut? Hawley and other Republicans acknowledge that the main cost-saving provision in the bill – new work requirements on able-bodied adults who receive health care through the Medicaid program -- would cause millions of people to lose their coverage. All told, estimates are 10.9 million fewer people would have health coverage under the bill's proposed changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. That includes some 8 million fewer in the Medicaid program, including 5.2 million dropping off because of the new eligibility requirements. 'I know that will reduce the number of people on Medicaid,' Hawley told a small scrum of reporters in the hallways at the Capitol. 'But I'm for that because I want people who are able bodied but not working to work.' Hawley and other Republicans are walking a politically fine line on how to reduce federal spending on Medicaid while also promising to protect a program that serves some 80 million Americans and is popular with the public. As the party pushes ahead on President Donald Trump' s priority package, Republicans insist they are not cutting the vital safety net program but simply rooting out what they call waste, fraud and abuse. Whether that argument lands with voters could go a long way toward determining whether Trump's bill ultimately ends up boosting — or dragging down — Republicans as they campaign for reelection next year. Republicans say that it's wrong to call the reductions in health care coverage 'cuts.' Instead, they've characterized the changes as rules that would purge people who are taking advantage of the system and protect it for the most vulnerable who need it most. What's in the bill House Republicans wrote the bill with instructions to find $880 billion in cuts from programs under the purview of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has a sprawling jurisdiction that includes Medicaid. In the version of the bill that the House passed on a party-line vote last month, the overall cuts ended up exceeding that number. The Kaiser Family Foundation projects that the bill will result in a $793 billion reduction in spending on Medicaid. Additionally, the House Ways & Means Committee, which handles federal tax policy, imposed a freeze on a health care provider tax that many states impose. Critics say the tax improperly boosts federal Medicaid payments to the states, but supporters like Hawley say it's important funding for rural hospitals. 'What we're doing here is an important and, frankly, heroic thing to preserve the program so that it doesn't become insolvent,' Speaker Mike Johnson said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, has denounced the bill as an 'assault on the healthcare of the American people' and warned years of progress in reducing the number of uninsured people is at risk. Who would lose health coverage The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the GOP's proposed changes to federal health programs would result in 10.9 million fewer people having health care coverage. Nearly 8 million fewer people would be enrolled in Medicaid by 2034 under the legislation, the CBO found, including 5.2 million people who would lose coverage due to the proposed work requirements. It said 1.4 million immigrants without legal status would lose coverage in state programs. The new Medicaid requirements would apply to nondisabled adults under age 65 who are not caretakers or parents, with some exceptions. The bill passed by the U.S. House stipulates that those eligible would need to work, take classes, or record community service for 80 hours per month. The Kaiser Family Foundation notes that more than 90% of people enrolled in Medicaid already meet those criteria. The legislation also penalizes states that fund health insurance for immigrants who have not confirmed their immigration status, and the CBO expects that those states will stop funding Medicaid for those immigrants altogether. Why Republicans want Medicaid changes Republicans have cited what they call the out-of-control spending in federal programs to explain their rationale for the changes proposed in the legislation. 'What we are trying to do in the One Big Beautiful Bill is ensuring that limited resources are protected for pregnant women, for children, for seniors, for individuals with disabilities,' said Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., in a speech on the House floor. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso argued that Medicaid recipients who are not working spend their time watching television and playing video games rather than looking for employment. Republicans also criticize the CBO itself, the congressional scorekeeper, questioning whether its projections are accurate. The CBO score for decades has been providing non-partisan analysis of legislation and budgetary matters. Its staff is prohibited from making political contributions and is currently led by a former economic adviser for the George W. Bush administration. What polling shows While Republicans argue that their signature legislation delivers on Trump's 2024 campaign promises, health care isn't one of the president's strongest issues with Americans. Most U.S. adults, 56%, disapproved of how Trump was handling health care policy in CNN polling from March. And according to AP VoteCast, about 6 in 10 voters in the November election said they wanted the government 'more involved' in ensuring that Americans have health care coverage. Only about 2 in 10 wanted the government less involved in this, and about 2 in 10 said its involvement was about right. Half of American adults said they expected the Trump administration's policies to increase their family's health care costs, according to a May poll from KFF, and about 6 in 10 believed those policies would weaken Medicaid. If the federal government significantly reduced Medicaid spending, about 7 in 10 adults said they worried it would negatively impact nursing homes, hospitals, and other health care providers in their community. For Hawley, the 'bottom lines' are omitting provisions that could cause rural hospitals to close and hardworking citizens to lose their benefits. He and other Republicans are especially concerned about the freeze on the providers' tax in the House's legislation that they warn could hurt rural hospitals. 'Medicaid benefits for people who are working or who are otherwise qualified,' Hawley said. 'I do not want to see them cut.'
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'It feels like a bad dream': Minnesota mourns victims of 'politically motivated assassination'
"Holy, holy, holy" they sang at the Church of St Timothy in Blaine, Minnesota. But the congregation is struggling to comprehend an act of evil - the brutal murder of one of their own. Melissa Hortman grew up here. The former state speaker and her husband Mark were shot dead in their home on Saturday morning. Her friend and party colleague, Erin Koegal, was among those attending mass. "It still feels like a bad dream. I woke up this morning and was like, okay, so that was real," she said. "It's hit me in waves, the grief, and the anger, and the sadness. She was a leader, a true definition of a leader. "I've never known our party without Melissa as the leader and so I can't, I don't even know how we're going to go forward as a caucus without her." State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette had already been shot and wounded. Police sent to check on his colleague, Melissa Hortman, didn't get there in time. They named the suspect as Vance Boelter, a 57-year-old former Christian missionary. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called it a "politically motivated murder". Read more here: Friends of Ms Hortman have told Sky News that her two children feared for their mother's life after reading divisive rhetoric directed at her online. Matt Norris, another political colleague of Ms Hortman, was also at church, reflecting on the rise of political violence in America. "We've going to have to do some serious introspection as a state, as a country, and figure out how do we get beyond this," he said. "How have we been laying the seeds that have led to horrific acts of violence against public servants like this? "And it's going to be incumbent upon us as leaders to set a different tone, to set a different direction for our state and our country so that horrific tragedies like this never occur again." But there's no sign of division at the State Capitol Building, where flags fly at half-mast and flowers are being left in tribute. This is a community united in grief and in its hope for an end to gun violence in America.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's FAA pick has long claimed he has a commercial pilot's license. Reports show he does not
President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration has long claimed to have a commercial pilot's license – but new reports suggest otherwise. Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Republic Airways, was listed on the airline's website as holding 'commercial, multi-engine and instrument pilot ratings' until Thursday, but after his credentials came under question, the word 'commercial,' was removed from the description on Friday, Politico reported. Records obtained by Politico revealed that Bedford does not have a commercial pilot's license registered with the FAA – though he has claimed to since at least 2010, according to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. While he does not have a commercial license, Bedford is a licensed private pilot, according to FAA records viewed by Politico. Bedford passed 'written and oral exams' in order to fly commercial aircraft, the Department of Transportation said, before claiming Bedford had not 'personally nor publicly claimed to be a commercial airline pilot.' 'Bryan never misrepresented his credential; it was an administrative error that was immediately corrected,' DOT said in a statement. His pilot credentials have been called into question previously, including in reporting by aviation news outlet The Air Current, with the publication writing, 'Bedford is a pilot himself, although not a commercial pilot, as he has sometimes claimed to be.' Bedford also faced questioning last week from the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee as part of the nomination process. During the questioning, Bedford faced harsh critiques over his lack of an answer when asked if he would scrap the FAA's rule that people seeking to become airline pilots log at least 1,500 of flight time. 'It doesn't sound like a yes,' Rep. Tammy Duckworth said. 'It sounds like you're leaving the door open to reduce the number of flight hours below 1,500.' Bedford responded: 'What I'm saying is I don't believe safety is static.' No one mentioned his credentials, according to Politico. His nomination comes amid calls for a renewed interest in safety concerns at the agency following a deadly mid-air collision near Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport in January that killed 67 people.
