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Associated Press
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Georgia Public Service Commission races focus on high power bills
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Public Service Commission gets a rare turn at the top of the ballot in 2025, a chance to focus public attention on a regulatory body that sets rates and oversees generation plans for Georgia Power, which serves 2.3 million customers statewide. Four Democrats and two Republicans are running in June 17 primaries. Early voting has begun and continues through June 14. Georgia Power customers have seen bills rise six times in recent years because of higher natural gas costs, construction projects including two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, and other factors. A typical Georgia Power residential customer now pays more than $175 a month, including taxes. All the challengers are calling for change, while Republican incumbent Tim Echols defends his record. The five-member commission, currently all Republicans, also oversees some natural gas rates for Atlanta Gas Light and Liberty Gas. Through Wednesday, turnout has been microscopic, with 15,000 ballots cast on the Democratic side and fewer than 10,000 in the GOP race. What elections are taking place? There are two separate primary elections taking place. A voter can choose either a Republican ballot or a Democratic ballot. In each race, candidates must live in a certain district, but run statewide. In the District 2 race, Lee Muns of Harlem is challenging Echols, who lives in Hoschton. Echols has been on the Public Service Commission since 2011. The winner will face Democrat Alicia Johnson in November. In the District 3 race, four Democrats are vying to challenge Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson in November. They are Daniel Blackman, Peter Hubbard and Keisha Waites of Atlanta and Robert Jones of Brookhaven. If no Democrat wins a majority June 17, a runoff will be held July 15. Why are Georgians voting in 2025? Georgia usually doesn't have statewide elections in odd-numbered years, but these were pushed back after elections were delayed by a lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the statewide voting scheme as discriminatory to Black people. No Georgia Public Service Commission elections have been held since 2022 because of the lawsuit. Johnson was appointed to the commission in 2021 by Gov. Brian Kemp and has never faced voters. He was supposed to run for the last two years of his predecessor's term in 2022. Instead, the District 3 winner can run again next year for a six-year term, after lawmakers rewrote the terms. Echols was supposed to run for a six-year term in 2022. Instead, the District 2 winner will serve for five years, with the next election in 2030. Are votes for Daniel Blackman going to count? Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger disqualified Blackman from the ballot, ruling he hadn't moved into Fulton County, part of District 2, before the required year before the election. But a judge decided Blackman could remain on the ballot until the judge rules on Blackman's appeal. Blackman lost a 2020 race for the commission and was appointed by President Joe Biden as southern region administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Blackman said he moved to Atlanta in October. But he voted in Forsyth County in November and didn't switch his registration to Fulton County until April. Blackman said he's not backing down, though. 'There's a legal ongoing process happening right now,' he said. 'We have been deemed to be back on the ballot.' Do candidates believe Georgia Power bills are too high? Echols touts a three-year freeze in rates agreed to by Georgia Power and commission staff, calling it 'the most important thing the commission can do right now.' 'The inflation in this economy has been brutal and put many people in a difficult situation,' Echols wrote in a statement. But Muns and the Democrats running in District 3 argue bills are too high. Some of them say the commission will give Georgia Power a free pass if its approves the freeze. Blackman says the company should agree to extend the rate freeze to five years 'if they really want to be serious about addressing high power costs in Georgia.' Muns, who founded a construction company and previously served on the Columbia County school board, is among candidates who say the commission should lower the financial return that Georgia Power is allowed to earn on money it has invested in power plants and transmission lines. That rate of return drives the $2.5 billion in profit that Georgia Power contributed last year to its parent, Atlanta-based Southern Co. Jones, who worked for California's utility regulator, a phone company and Microsoft, called the rate freeze 'atrocious' saying it props up Georgia Power's rate of return. 'I feel the commission is not doing enough deep scrutiny of the operating expenses and of the financials of the company,' Jones said. Hubbard, a green energy advocate, said it would be cheaper to shift toward solar power stored by batteries, instead of building more natural gas plants. 'Renewables, battery storage, some of these other solutions, are the fiscally conservative, least cost, most economical options,' Hubbard said. Waites, a former state House member and former Atlanta City Council member, said she's not an energy expert. 'But I am someone that just like you works hard, and at the end of the day, I just want to get a fair return in terms of what my cost is in terms of what I am paying,' she said at a recent candidate forum.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Voting begins for June 17 special election that includes Columbia County candidate
Election officials in Richmond County will issue daily updates on advance vote totals in the days leading to the June 17 special election involving a Columbia County candidate. Advance voting and the mailing of absentee ballots for the special primary election for the Public Service Commission have started, according to Travis Doss, executive director of the county's Board of Elections. Advance voting will continue through June 13. By 10 a.m. each day, the webpage at is expected to include updated vote totals at the link marked Absentee and Advance Daily Report. Vote: Special election to decide who helps set the prices on your power and gas bills The election pits incumbent District 2 PSC Commissioner Tim Echols against Republican challenger and Harlem mechanical contractor Lee Muns. The PSC rules on issues involving natural gas and electric utilities. Notably, it helps set and regulate the rates Georgians pay for those utilities. Muns' professional background includes performing contract work at nuclear facilities such as Burke County's Plant Vogtle, which falls under the PSC's purview. Echols, currently the PSC's vice-chairman, has served on the commission since 2010. This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta-area voting begins in June 17 election for state utility post
Axios
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
PSC elections will guide electricity rates and clean energy future
Early voting has begun to pick who should serve on the Georgia Public Service Commission, the state regulator that decides how much you pay to turn on your lights. Why it matters: In addition to electricity and natural gas rates, the five-member commission regulates telecom companies and has major say over the future of clean energy in Georgia. Catch up quick: PSC elections have been delayed since 2022 after a federal judge ruled the commission's at-large elections violated the Voting Rights Act, kickstarting a legal dispute that remains under appeal. The winners of the June primary will face off in the Nov. 4 general election. Zoom in: Commissioners are elected statewide but must live in a specific district. They serve staggered six-year terms. Here's who's on the ballot. District 2 (east): Alicia Johnson, a health care consultant from Savannah, is the lone candidate in the Democratic primary. She will face the winner of the Republican contest between incumbent Commissioner Tim Echols, who was first elected in 2010, and business owner Lee Muns, District 3 (metro Atlanta): Clean energy nonprofit professional Peter Hubbard, former utility executive Robert Jones and former Atlanta City Council member Keisha Sean Waites compete for the Democratic nomination. On Tuesday, an administrative law judge said another Democratic candidate, former EPA regional administrator Daniel Blackman, did not provide enough evidence to prove he lived in the district long enough to qualify for the ballot, the AJC reports. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger makes the final decision as to whether Blackman can remain on the ballot. Incumbent Commissioner Fitz Johnson, the PSC's first Black Republican commissioner, is facing voters for the first time since he was appointed to the post by Kemp in 2021. By the numbers: Georgia Power customers' bills have jumped an average of $43 since 2023 thanks to rate hikes approved by the all-Republican panel, Georgia Recorder reports. Caveat: A yet-to-be-approved deal between the PSC and Georgia Power that's been blessed by Gov. Brian Kemp — and called out by watchdogs as an election-year ploy — would freeze rates through 2028. Yes, but: Whoever wins in November will decide whether Georgia Power and other utilities can pass on the costs of hurricane cleanup, fuel and transmission lines to ratepayers, Jennette Gayer of Environment Georgia told Axios. In addition, they will join ongoing discussions about Georgia's data center boom and the strain the billion-dollar projects have had on the state's power grid. What's next: Early voting runs until June 13. Election Day is June 17, followed by runoffs on July 15 if needed. Log in to My Voter Page to check your polling place and view a sample ballot.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Early voting period underway for Public Service Commission
COLUMBUS, Ga. () — Early primary voting has begun for Georgia's next public service commissioners. Public Service Commissioners play a vital role in regulating state utilities, like gas rates and infrastructure. RELATED: Georgia Power to freeze base rates for at least three years A total of eight candidates are running for two seats on the commission. Although the commissioners represent various districts in Georgia, they are elected by voters statewide. The candidates are listed below: District 2 Republicans: Tim Echols and Lee Muns Democrat: Alicia Johnson District 3 Republican: Fitz Johnson Democrats: Daniel Blackman, Peter Hubbard, Robert Jones and Keisha Sean Waites The early voting period will run from May 27 to June 13, with weekend voting happening on the following days: Saturday, May 31 Sunday, June 1 Saturday, June 7 Sunday, June 8 The primary election will occur on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. The general election will occur on November 4, 2025. Early voting locations and absentee ballot requests can be found at the Georgia Secretary of State's Website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Early voting begins in Georgia Public Service Commission primary elections
The Brief Early voting for the Georgia Public Service Commission begins on Tuesday. It's the first race in five years due to a lawsuit over how Georgia's districts were drawn. Eight candidates are running for two seats on the commission; The other seats will be up in the next few years. The commission regulates Georgia's gas and electricity utilities and can approve what Georgia Power can charge customers for electricity. FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Georgians will be able to head to the polls starting Tuesday morning to have their say on who can make decisions over what they see on their utility bills. Early voting for the Georgia Public Service Commission begins on Tuesday. It's the first race in five years due to a lawsuit over how Georgia's districts were drawn. What we know The Georgia Public Service Commission is the body elected statewide that regulates utilities such as gas and electricity. It has power over what Georgia Power, the state's largest electric provider, can charge customers for electricity. Eight candidates are running for two seats on the commission. In recent years, the Commission approved multiple hikes to utility prices. Earlier this month, Georgia Power cut a deal with the commission's Public Interest Advocacy staff to freeze its base rate until 2028. As part of the tentative agreement, the utility will also push back its request to recoup storm damage losses until 2026. That deal must still be approved by the PSC after public hearings later next month. Timeline Early voting runs from May 27 through June 13, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekend voting will also be available on Saturdays, May 31 and June 7, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays, June 1 and June 8, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Election Day is scheduled for June 17. Although PSC candidates qualify by district, the positions are statewide offices. The races are part of a partisan primary, so voters must select either a Democratic or Republican ballot to participate. Dig deeper While the commissioners each represent a district around the state, they are elected by voters statewide. District 2includes parts of east and southeast Georgia. Republican Lee Muns is challenging incumbent Tim Echols for the party's nomination. Democrat Alicia Johnson of Savannah is also running for that seat. Four Democrats are vying for their party's nomination in District 3: Daniel Blackman, Keisha Sean Waites, Peter Hubbard and Robert Jones. That district includes the metro Atlanta counties of Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton. The winner of that primary will face incumbent Fitz Johnson in November. The next election for the District 5 seat will be held next year. Elections for the remaining two seats will be held in 2028. What you can do Absentee ballots for the election have already begun to be issued is May 26. Voters have until June 6 to request one. You can see your early voting locations and request an absentee ballot on the Georgia Secretary of State's website. The Source FOX 5's Kaitlyn Pratt reported this story out of Fulton County. Additional information came from previous FOX 5 reporting.
