Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Good morning! We’re focused on power bills today. They’ve been rising in Georgia in recent years and a new nonprofit aims to address this trend. Meanwhile, after an unprecedented three-year delay, statewide elections return for two seats on the body that regulates utilities in Georgia, the Public Service Commission. Voters can begin to get plugged in to what the two incumbents and six challengers are offering.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
New watchdog in Georgia
A new nonprofit aims to address soaring electric bills in Georgia, as The Current’s Mary Landers reports. The brainchild of consumer utility expert Patty Durand, Georgia Utility Watch is a product of Durand’s frustration with the Public Service Commission, the state’s elected five-person panel charged with regulating Georgia Power and other utilities. She wants them to better protect ordinary consumers.
“Industries have their own lobbyists, and they are down there lobbying every day for their interests, but there’s no one lobbying for consumers, and they have really paid the price,” Durand said.
Her new project comes after her run for a PSC seat was cut short in 2022 when a civil rights lawsuit postposed that election.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
Georgians to choose utility regulators
Speaking of Public Service Commission elections, the two seats for which elections were postponed in 2022 are back on the ballot this year. Statewide races for these utility regulators often attract little attention, but this year they’re shaping up to be more of a battle because of soaring Georgia Power bills and the utility’s plans to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels. The two incumbents and six challengers have qualified as candidates for the June 17 primary. Georgia Recorder’s Stanley Dunlap details who’s who in each race.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Brace for 2025 hurricane season
Researchers at the Colorado State University are predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season for 2025.
The CSU team expects 17 named storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Of those, researchers forecast nine to become hurricanes and four to reach major hurricane strength (Saffir/Simpson Category 3, 4 or 5) with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.
The forecast sounds similar to what we saw last year when 18 named storms formed in the Atlantic basin. T.S. Debbie and Hurricane Helene left their marks on Coastal Georgia, while Hurricane Milton was more bark than bite on the coast. Eleven of last year’s storms became hurricanes and 5 strengthened into major hurricanes. The 30-year season averages are 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes.
The National Hurricane Center typically issues its initial seasonal forecast in May. The CSU team will issue forecast updates on June 11, July 9 and Aug. 6.
Also noted
- As the north Atlantic right whale calving season concludes, researchers have identified only 10 calves, with the most recent sighting on Feb. 23. The newborn total is just half the number seen last year and half the number researchers would consider a relatively productive year. One bright spot: An 18-year-old female named Check Mark, who was once injured by a vessel strike, birthed her first calf. The pair was seen off Amelia Island. Right whales are critically endangered with an estimated 370 remaining.
- Join researchers and Tybee officials for “Resilient Tybee: Making the Most of Our Coast,” a virtual event focused on the impacts of and solutions to flooding on Tybee. The online event will run from 9:30 -10:30 a.m. April 15. Register here to receive the link. Participants will learn about new research on sea-level rise, tides, rainfall, and groundwater — and how it all affects Tybee Island. Questions? Contact Alan Robertson: arobertson@cityoftybee.gov
- Around this time each year, shorebirds and seabirds start nesting on Georgia beaches. American oystercatchers, Wilson’s plovers and least terns use sites such as Little Tybee Island, Ogeechee Bar, East Beach on St. Simons Island, Cumberland Island and the southern end of Jekyll Island. Black skimmers, royal terns and gull-billed terns also nest on Georgia beaches, offshore sandbars and dredge spoil islands. For these nesting birds, disturbance from people and their dogs is a significant threat. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources suggests helping beach-nesting birds and migrating species by: avoiding posted sites, walking below the high-tide line, watching beach birds only from a distance, and keeping dogs leashed in the areas where they’re allowed.
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Nonprofit forms to keep eye on Georgia utilities
Consumer energy expert Patty Durand has formed a nonprofit to address utility costs and regulation in Georgia. The nonprofit aims to protect Georgia consumers through “utility oversight, reform advocacy, and public education.”
Eight candidates running in long-delayed Georgia PSC elections
Eight candidates, including two incumbents, are running for two at-large seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission in an election that challengers say will become a referendum on rising Georgia Power bills, with the commission’s decisions on data center growth and the impact on residential customers being a major issue.
Demonstrators crowd Savannah streets Saturday protest federal program cuts
Demonstrators in Savannah demanded that the Trump administration cease cutbacks in federal programs and stop assaults on their rights under the U.S. Constitution, with chants of “Hands off” democracy and “Hands off” libraries, personal data, veteran services, and LGBTQ+ rights.
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