Correction: Oct. 27, 2025, 5:10 p.m.: Commissioner Tricia Pridemore’s first name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.
In the upcoming November election, the same races sit at the top of every ballot statewide: two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission. In fact, in many localities, including Glynn County outside of Brunswick, those are the only races on the ballot.
On every ballot incumbent Republicans Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols will be running respectively against Democrats Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson.
While the PSC itself keeps a low profile, its actions affect nearly every Georgian. That’s because the five-member board regulates investor-owned utilities, most importantly to many families, Georgia Power.
“When you get a power bill from Georgia Power in the mail, the number that you see at the bottom of that is directly dictated by the people that serve on the Georgia Public Service Commission,” said Daniel Tait of the Energy and Policy Institute, a nonprofit utility watchdog. “Your bill is made up of how much you consume times how much they let the power company charge you for that consumption.”
This year’s PSC election is getting a reprieve from its usual obscurity with a dose of national attention. On Tuesday, popular science communicator Hank Green posted a Youtube video explaining the PSC and urging Georgians to vote. It was viewed more than half a million times in the first two days. That’s more than twice as many people who voted in June’s PSC primaries. Earlier this month the Volts podcast devoted an episode to the Georgia PSC election, calling it “the most important election of the year” and “a bellwether for next year’s gov(ernor’s) and midterm elections!” Last month Politico said much the same with a story headlined “The 2025 Georgia race that could tell us a lot about 2026.”
Voter turnout for the PSC primaries in June was an abysmal 2.8% statewide, or 207,969 voters. Turnout in coastal counties was only slightly better, with a high of 4.3% in McIntosh County.
Republicans have expressed concern that this off-year election favors Democrats because turnout is likely to be better in blue-leaning cities where municipal races and ballot initiatives give voters more reasons to head to the polls.
Why we’re voting now
Commissioners are paid $131,157 a year and usually serve staggered six-year terms. But that usual term is not the case with both Echols and Fitz Johnson. Echols is finishing the ninth year of the term he began in 2017. Johnson is finishing the seventh year of a term he was appointed to by Gov. Brian Kemp in July 2021 when Commissioner Chuck Eaton stepped down.
The regularly scheduled elections were postponed by a voting rights lawsuit in which Atlanta-area voters argued the city’s Black vote is diluted by the at-large system of state-wide voting for each of the five seats. After the plaintiffs lost that case on appeal, Georgia lawmakers rescheduled the elections, automatically extending the terms of the sitting commissioners. One seat is scheduled to be voted on next year, then two more in 2028.
Commissioners are advised and supported by a staff of about 85, who offer expert recommendations. But the commission has parted ways with staff on several controversial decisions. For example, the PSC allowed Georgia Power to recoup COVID-19 costs from customers despite the staff recommending it was not necessary. In 2017, the commission also voted to complete the construction of two new reactors at Plant Vogtle after staff recommended canceling the delayed and over-budget project, calling it “no longer economic.” Vogtle’s costs ballooned to over $35 billion, one reason the PSC has allowed six Georgia Power rate increases over the last three years.
How the PSC operates
To demystify the PSC, The Current GA prepared a brief FAQ on the agency.
What does the PSC do?
The PSC regulates the rates charged and the services provided by most intrastate, investor-owned electric, telecommunications, natural gas and electric utilities.
That includes:
GEORGIA POWER SERVICE AREAS
- Georgia Power but not the electric membership cooperatives that supply power to much of rural Georgia.
- It includes landline telephones but not cell phones.
- It includes the rates for Atlanta Gas Light Company’s distribution service, but not for the market-based prices charged for the 10 certified natural gas marketers that serve customers on AGLC’s system.
- While the commission does not set rates for municipally-owned electric and gas utilities or electric membership corporations (EMCs), those entities must come before the commission on some matters, such as financing and the resolution of territorial disputes.
How can the PSC influence the environment in Georgia?
While the PSC isn’t an environmental regulator per se, it can influence Georgia Power’s adoption of cleaner, renewable energy sources, though it has recently opted to add more fossil fuels to the utility’s generating mix. It could also require the company to clean up pollution like coal ash ponds at shareholders’ expense, though it opted in 2019 to allow the company to pass those costs on to ratepayers.
How does the PSC make decisions?
A simple majority, three of the five commissioners, allows motions to pass. That means that even if both Democrats win in November, the remaining three Republicans will still control the vote.
When and where does the PSC meet?
Administrative sessions of the PSC are held the first and third Tuesday of each month in hearing room 110 at 244 Washington St. in Atlanta. Proceedings are open to the public. They are live streamed and archived here.
Who’s on the PSC now?
All five commissioners are Republican. All of them except Tim Echols were first appointed rather than elected to their seats, though all but Fitz Johnson were subsequently elected. Along with Echols, the commissioners are Fitz Johnson, Tricia Pridemore, Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, and Jason Shaw.
What are some recent key votes from the PSC?
July 1, 2025: The PSC voted to freeze Georgia Power’s rates for the next three years. But bills could still go up. The deal does not freeze fuel costs or the cost of recovering from Hurricane Helene, the most damaging storm in Georgia Power’s history. Also troubling to consumer advocates is that the deal allows Georgia Power to continue to recover high profits on its investments from ratepayers. The agreement sets that Return on Equity (ROE) at a maximum of 11.9%, above the industry average.
July 10, 2025: The PSC voted to extend the operation of two Georgia Power coal plants beyond their previously-proposed closure dates, a controversial move because of coal’s intensive greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. The plants are to remain open to serve anticipated demand from the growing data center business.
Sept. 1, 2024: The PSC voted unanimously to let Sandersville Railroad Co. condemn through eminent domain 43 acres of privately owned land in Sparta, including land held by a Black family for generations.
April 2024: The PSC approves a Georgia Power plan to increase generating capacity by contracting with a natural gas plant in Pace, Florida, and Mississippi Power Co., a Southern Company corporate sibling. The PSC also allows Georgia Power to build three new combustion turbines at Plant Yates near Newnan that could burn natural gas or oil. Natural gas is a potent greenhouse gas.
December 2023: The PSC approves a request for Georgia Power to add an average of $9 to every customer’s bill to pay for their second new nuclear power plant, Unit 4 at Plant Vogtle. This additional charge started in April 2024 after the plant came online.
This article appears in Georgia Public Service Commission election, candidates, 2025.
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