Recently some writers from The Kicker sat down with consumer advocate and Public Service Commission (PSC) candidate Patty Durand to learn more about the Georgia Public Service Commission race, Plant Vogtle, and why Georgia isn’t transitioning more quickly to clean energy. Durand is a former resident of Forsyth and plans to run for the PSC in 2025.
Kicker: What should Georgians know about the Public Service Commission (PSC)? PD: The PSC is tasked with regulating Georgia Power, gas companies, railroads, and certain parts of Electric Membership Corporations’ (EMCs) structure. Georgia Power is a government guaranteed monopoly which was done to incentivize it to build expensive electric power lines and infrastructure during the first part of the 20th century. The PSC was set up to oversee this monopoly by regulating in the public interest, which includes ensuring reasonable profits and rates that are just and reasonable. But that’s not what they’ve been doing. Georgia Power has the blessing of the PSC to receive the highest profit margin of any utility in the country. Kicker: What should Georgians know about Georgia Power? PD: Georgia Power takes actions that benefit” their shareholders more than their customers; they’re not doing good work to provide good value to ratepayers or to offer cleaner and cheaper energy options. Georgia Power massively overspent on Plant Vogtle while blocking options like residential and commercial rooftop solar. We don’t have more renewables in Georgia because Georgia Power doesn’t want them. People are confused and deliberately misled about what the clean energy transition could do to lower our energy costs, improve our air quality, and stop climate change. The PSC could curb this, but instead they do not. Kicker: Wow, this doesn’t sound right. PD: This past year we’ve had Georgia Power asking to build more capacity with demand predictions than match reality. There has never been any accountability by the PSC for Georgia Power’s past false demand predictions. Even if demand were surging, new energy sources can and should be clean. We had the Department of Defense, Microsoft, and concerned citizens asking for any potential new energy demands to be met by expanding renewables. Despite that push, the PSC caved to Georgia Power and authorized a massive amount of new fossil fuel capacity. Kicker: How did you decide to run for a seat on the PSC? PD: I've been in advocacy for years. I led a chapter of the Sierra Club for four years, and I ran a non-profit in Forsyth County called Forsyth Forest Conservation. I decided to run for the PSC after the commission approved a so-called Smart Usage Rate plan, even though it was very bad for low-income people. It was clear to me that nobody on the PSC was advocating for Georgia Power ratepayers. In fact, no official on the PSC is even a Georgia Power customer. Many don't have a background in energy and are on the PCS because of political patronage, meaning they were big donors to the governor. The process is that a commissioner resigns between elections so the governor can appoint a member who will then appear as an incumbent during the next election. Kicker: Can you explain the controversy surrounding the PSC races? PD: PSC candidates must live in the district that they represent. However, voters across the state vote for all the candidates on the commission. Black voters in 2020 sued the state arguing that this structure disenfranchised Black voters because voters across the state can join together to dilute Black voters' right for representation in a district. The judge ruled in their favor. The state appealed. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals did not rule on the merit of that claim. Instead they ruled that the federal courts should not rule on state elections. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. While this was going on, my election was one that was put on hold. The Georgia legislature decided to extend the current PSC members terms. It’s been a mess. Kicker: What can be done? PD: A lot, but I’ll give you three to start:
Kicker: How can our readers keep up with this issue? PD: My newsletter! People can sign up for it at pattyforpsc.com. And, I encourage all consumers to watch their power bills closely and ask questions. Forsyth readers are mostly getting power through Sawnee EMC and their bills will also be heavily impacted from Plant Vogtle’s cost overruns, but it’s less transparent than Georgia Power since EMC rates are not regulated by the PSC. However, everything Georgia Power does affects you because climate change affects us all. Reaching out to legislators is helpful even if you aren’t a Georgia Power customer. It’s worth noting that many Republican legislators think that GP has gone too far. As I said earlier, none of the PSC Commissioners are Georgia Power customers. You don’t have to pay your bills to Georgia Power to have your views heard. State legislatures have the power to legislate. Call them and email your legislators, especially if they are Republican, and ask them to require more lower cost clean energy like solar and storage instead of expensive gas and nuclear that has been Georgia Power’s preferred solution due to profits. Comments are closed.
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October 2024
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