– March 13, 2023 –
Good morning! Fresh off Georgia’s presidential primary vote Tuesday we have a look at a set of elections yanked from the ballot yet again. We also have an update on Spaceport Camden. And for those itching to get outside, we relay a citizen scientist volunteer opportunity and details on an upcoming native plant.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
Interminable terms
Of the 13 Georgia officials who are elected statewide, five are Public Service Commissioners, who oversee the rates set by Georgia Power. But for the second election cycle in a row, Georgians won’t be voting for these utility regulators. That means that by the end of the year, more than half the panel will be overdue for an election. Commissioner Tim Echols, for example, will be continuing the eighth year of his current six-year term. The delay stems from a lawsuit over voting rights about which judges have been slow to act, as Emily Jones of WABE/Grist and Rahul Bali of WABE explain.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the PSC. As its own website states, “Very few governmental agencies have as much impact on people’s lives.” Yet it’s often overlooked. To remedy that situation, WABE and Grist are collaborating on a year-long series to demystify energy regulation in Georgia and around the country. The first story is this explainer on the Georgia PSC.
Spaceport Authority disbanded
The Camden County Commission voted unanimously last week to dissolve its Camden County Spaceport Authority, as the Brunswick News reports. “Mr. (Trevor) Readdick and I didn’t vote in favor of this to begin with and I don’t have a problem getting rid of it,” said Commission Chairman Ben Casey. (The Spaceport Authority vote begins at 4:41 on this video of the meeting.) The authority was created in 2019 through local legislation by the General Assembly at the request of Camden County commissioners. The county spent about $12 million on the spaceport project, but the authority never met. Its five members included local business owner C.B. Yadav, one of the alternate Trump electors in 2020.
The dissolution of the authority came more than a year after the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the results of a county referendum in which voters rejected the commission’s plan for a rocket launch facility.
Calling all bird lovers
Birds have a problem with mid-rise buildings. They smack into the windows, mistaking the reflections of trees for the real thing. Researchers estimate up to a billion birds are killed this way in the U.S. each year. Migration routes like Coastal Georgia are especially worrisome, so Birds Georgia is recruiting volunteers to help study this issue in downtown Savannah and Brunswick. Guided by an app, volunteers will look for stunned or dead birds along an established path. The Current’s Mary Landers has more information, including how to volunteer, here.
Also noted:
- The 2023–24 winter season ranked warmest on record for the contiguous U.S. with eight states across the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast each observing their warmest winter on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports. While Georgia as a whole had normal winter temperatures, it was warmer than average in Coastal Georgia in December and January, the Georgia state climatologist reports. Data has not yet been posted for February.
- The annual Chatham County Native Plant Sale & Tree Giveaway will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 30, at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens, 2 Canebrake Road, Savannah. Local plant vendors and the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens will have a selection of native species for sale. Local nonprofit Savannah Tree Foundation will have 600 trees native to the coastal Georgia region to give away for free. Residents can choose up to two trees for their own yard.
- Coastal cities like Savannah are threatened not only by sea level rise, which is accelerating, but also by the land sinking, a phenomenon called subsidence. Research in the journal Nature predicts the resulting inundation of coastal areas in 32 coastal cities, including Savannah.
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Energy regulator elections still on hold amid voting discrimination lawsuit
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist and Rahul Bali/WABE
The commissioners, who set electricity rates for Georgia Power, won’t have to face voters after recent rate hikes.
Birds Georgia seeks coastal volunteers
By Mary Landers
Birds Georgia launched Project Safe Flight to gain a better understanding of the bird-building collision problem across Georgia.
Who benefitted from doomed Spaceport Camden?
By Maggie Lee
At least 30 lawyers and a million dollars on wooing the public and governments.
Want clean electricity?
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist
This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising electricity bills to developing renewable ener On a Tuesday morning in January, college student Aurora Gray stepped up to the podium […]
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