Democrats secured both Public Service Commission seats on the ballot, giving the party majority control of the powerful utility regulation board for the first time in 30 years.
Democrat Peter Hubbard successfully defended his District 3 seat against a challenge from former Commissioner Fitz Johnson, whom Hubbard unseated in last year’s election for a one-year term.
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Democrat Shelia Edwards defeated Republican Josh Tolbert to take the District 5 seat recently vacated by Tricia Pridemore.
Hubbard was leading Johnson by 13 percentage points, and Edwards was leading Tolbert by 10 points, when AP called the race on Tuesday night.
The commission regulates utilities, including Georgia Power, meaning commissioners have final say over how the state’s largest utility makes energy and how much customers pay for it. It has drawn increased scrutiny in recent years because of a series of rate hikes and the scramble to produce enough energy for a massive spike in demand that Georgia Power predicts from the data center boom.
The five-member commission was made up entirely of Republican members from 2006 until the start of this year, after two Democrats unseated the incumbents amid mounting frustration over rising power bills.
Those two Democrats, Hubbard and District 2 Commissioner Alicia Johnson, have cast dissenting votes on some commission decisions this year. But both have stressed that they would have more ability to push for changes to Georgia Power’s operations, rates and energy mix with a third Democratic vote on their side.
“I’m running to join them, to be that third critical vote to change the trajectory of what’s going on in our state,” Edwards said during an Atlanta Press Club debate this fall.
New majority faces major decisions on rates, energy
In the coming years, Hubbard, Edwards and the other three commissioners will oversee several issues with substantial implications for power bills and Georgia’s climate future, since burning fossil fuels to make electricity is a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2028, Georgia Power’s next long-term plan for making and delivering energy is due. It’s an opportunity for the commission and interest groups to weigh in on power plants, transmission lines and other key issues.
A rate case, in which the utility, the commission and many of those same interest groups hash out exactly what customers will pay for electricity, is due to follow — the first since 2022.
Current commissioners have said they also expect Georgia Power to file another update to its long-term plan next year — much as the utility did in 2023 — as part of the ongoing effort to supply energy to data centers.
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