This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WABE and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
The Georgia Public Service Commission has entered a new era. After nearly two decades with only Republicans, this month two Democrats, Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard, took their seats on the five-member commission after defeating Republican incumbents by a wide margin in November’s election.
One of the ousted commissioners, Republican Tim Echols, sat down with WABE before leaving office to reflect on his 15 years at the PSC and how climate change fits into the commission’s work.
Echols carved an unusual path for a Georgia Republican, championing electric vehicles, alternative fuels and solar energy, often citing his faith as motivation to care for the planet. He also frustrated climate activists by supporting fossil fuel plants, too.
He was and remains a staunch supporter of nuclear power, including the new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, which provide a substantial amount of carbon-free energy but ran far over budget and drove up electricity rates. He says he would like to see even more nuclear built in Georgia.
“I don’t regret supporting Vogtle, even if it did cost me the election,” he said. “It was important. Moving towards solar, batteries and nuclear is the way of the future. And I think we will eventually go that way. Those coal plants will close one day, and those gas plants will close and what will remain will be nuclear energy and renewable energy in Georgia.”
The new Democratic commissioners will likely push for more climate action, he said, though they may not have the votes to pull it off. But he also stressed that climate falls outside the purview of the commission, in his view.
“A lot of people want to turn us into the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and we’re not that,” Echols said. “We are really financial regulators, but a lot of people do want to morph us into something that we’re not.”
Many critics disagree. The commission’s mission statement promises “safe, reliable and reasonably priced” electric service, and some argue that climate issues fall under safety. Often, when the commission weighs a major energy decision, a parade of medical professionals steps up to the podium during the public comment period to repeat the refrain, “The only safe prescription for the health of all Georgians is clean, renewable energy.” It is not safe, they contend, to continue using fossil fuels that harm air quality and emit greenhouse gases, worsening climate change and all its attendant risks to human health.
Echols said he agrees that caring for the planet is important, but he sees the climate issue as more complicated.
“Climate change is a political issue, unfortunately, today,” he said. “As an evangelical, I always talk about stewardship, and that God’s given us, you know, dominion on the planet and we’re to care for it, water, air, soil, everything that we have. So that’s how I approach it.”
There are limits, Echols said, to the actions elected regulators can take. If the commission were made up of nonpartisan appointees, as similar bodies are in many states, he felt the situation might be different.
“They want me to buy into Democratic talking points, and I just think it’s unrealistic to ask a person in one party to go way out here on the edge, regardless of whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican and violate their party distinctives in order to do something,” Echols said. “As long as you are partisan, I think you’ve got to expect partisan politics to play into your thinking and your messaging.”
Asked how he balances his party’s positions with his faith, Echols pointed to his personal steps to cut his carbon footprint. He’s a longtime electric car driver – currently on his eighth, he said – and has solar on his home, facts he said he’s often gotten criticism about from fellow Republicans.
“I think you, when you get out there off of the party platform like I have on EVs and solar, you do put yourself at risk,” he said. “So how far do you go?”
And he recalled an early vote to force Georgia Power to begin adding more solar to its portfolio.
“When I got to the commission in 2011, we had virtually no solar. I mean, it was probably less than 20 acres of solar across the entire state,” he said.
Fellow commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald created a plan to add what was then a large amount of solar to Georgia Power’s portfolio. With support from Echols and former commissioner Doug Everett, the PSC passed it.
“It really launched solar,” Echols said. “Georgia Power did not want to do it.”
In the years since, Georgia has emerged as a top state for solar, most of it in the form of large solar farms.
More change could be coming for the Public Service Commission in this year’s elections. One of the new Democratic commissioners, Peter Hubbard, was only elected to a one-year term, so he’s already running for reelection. His one-time opponent, Republican Fitz Johnson, has said he plans to try to win the seat back. And Republican commissioner Tricia Pridemore is facing reelection as well.
Echols said the PSC critics pushing back on the multiple recent bill increases were clearly effective since he and Johnson lost their bids to keep their seats. And he said he believes his party is “at risk” in this year’s election.
“Republicans, I think, are scared right now after seeing me go down, Fitz go down, and some other [seats],” he said. “If the commission does flip…then it would be a three to two Democratic majority, and they would be able to compel Georgia Power to do whatever they wanted to do.”
Now that he’s off the Public Service Commission, Echols said he plans to run for the Georgia House of Representatives.
This story is available through a news partnership with Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s National Public Radio affiliate.