Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Good morning! This is summer fellow Lily Belle Poling back for another week of Coast Watch. Today, we’re looking at Georgia Power rates, rural housing conditions and Hurricane Helene’s lasting effects on terrain. But first, we have news on the impact of lights at the recently opened Buc-ee’s on baby sea turtles.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at staff@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Lights too bright?
Like many Coastal Georgians, baby sea turtles may begin to start crawling towards the new Buc-ee’s mega gas station in Brunswick.
In the turtles’ cases, however, a journey towards Buc-ee’s, rather than the ocean, would likely kill them.
The reason for their journey towards the supersized service station? The lights illuminating the I-95 exit to Buc-ee’s.
The tall lights now brightening the once-dark interchange are visible from nearby beaches. Experts say that light can distract sea turtle hatchlings from moonlight and starlight — beacons which they rely on to make it to the surf.
NEWS: GOVERNMENT
Georgia Power rates frozen, for now
The Georgia Public Service Commission will make two major decisions this month, one on a proposal to temporarily freeze Georgia Power’s rates and another on Georgia Power’s plan to continue using coal plants to meet rising demand for energy, especially from large ventures like data centers. Hearings on both issues last week got heated, WABE‘s Emily Jones, reports.
The rate freeze proposal came after the commission approved six bill increases implemented over the last three years. Company officials testified on Thursday that they were facing a revenue shortfall, meaning they’d likely have requested another rate hike.
Instead, however, Georgia Power reached a deal with commission staff to leave base rates at their current level temporarily, at least through the end of 2028.
“We think this is a good, safe bet for ratepayers to keep rates where they are for the next three years,” said Tom Bond, the director of utilities at the commission.
ANALYSIS: DATA
Rural housing conditions exacerbate extreme heat
Extreme heat has traditionally been framed as an urban problem, but millions of rural Americans are also at risk of suffering from its dangerous consequences, a new report from Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research organization based in Montana, found.
According to the report, rural Americans are twice as likely to have pre-existing health issues like diabetes that exacerbate the dangers of extreme heat than urban Americans. When rural Americans do face heat-related illnesses, they are also more likely to be uninsured and acquire medical debt in the process. Some of the most vulnerable rural Americans are those who have outdoor jobs in industries like agriculture or construction, The Daily Yonder‘s data reporter, Sarah Melotte, reports.
The report highlights manufactured or mobile homes as particularly vulnerable to extreme heat due to poor insulation. Rural residents of these types of structures spend 75 percent more on energy bills compared to their urban counterparts.
In the United States’ rural counties, mobile homes make up 13 percent of the total occupied housing units, compared to four percent in metropolitan counties.
More worth noting:
- Last fall, Hurricane Helene only lasted a few days, but it altered the landscape of the Southeastern United States in ways that could worsen future disasters, The Conversation’s Brian J. Yanites writes. Mudslides reshaped river channels, and uprooted trees left soil on hillslopes exposed to the elements. Scientists call these transformations cascading hazards, which occur when one disaster alters a landscape in ways that lead to future hazards.
- Georgia Rivers recently updated its river guide mobile app. Kayakers and canoers can now receive live updates on e coli bacteria levels, dam release schedules and fishing guides.
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Experts: Lights for new Buc-ee’s exit deadly to baby sea turtles
The high-mast lights at the new Buc-ee’s gas station in Brunswick, Georgia are visible from the beaches, potentially causing sea turtles to misorient and increasing the risk of predators and excessive heat.
$60 million deal ends mining threat to Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp
The Conservation Fund has agreed to purchase Twin Pines Minerals’ land near the Okefenokee Swamp for $60 million, ending the threat of mining in the area and preserving the swamp’s ecological value.
Litter booms trap trash in Savannah waterways
The Savannah Riverkeeper is installing litter booms along canals to collect litter and begin to address the problem of single-use plastics in the Savannah area.
Complaint targets Georgia PSC members over rate freeze endorsement
Three elected state regulators are being asked to recuse themselves from voting on a proposed agreement to freeze Georgia Power’s rates for three years due to allegations that they violated state rules by publicly endorsing the proposal before an upcoming hearing.
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