Georgia runoff to decide Democratic nominee for Public Service Commission

ATLANTA (AP) — Voters head to the polls Tuesday to choose a Democratic nominee for one of the posts on the Georgia Public Service Commission, which oversees utilities including Georgia Power Co.

Keisha Waites and Peter Hubbard are competing in a runoff after neither won a majority on June 17. Waites finished first and Hubbard finished second in a three-way race. Under Georgia law, when no candidate wins a majority, a runoff is required to choose a winner.

Turnout was exceedingly low in early voting, and fewer than 100,000 voters are likely to decide the nominee.

The winner will face Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson in November in the District 3 race. Republicans in June chose incumbent Tim Echols, who has been on the Public Service Commission since 2011, to face Democrat Alicia Johnson of Augusta in the District 2 race. Voters statewide cast ballots for each of the five seats on the commission, but candidates must live in a particular district.

Debate has centered on bills charged by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co. Georgia Power customers have seen bills rise six times in recent years because of higher natural gas costs and construction projects including two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, and other factors. A typical Georgia Power residential customer now pays more than $175 a month, including taxes.

The commission sets rates and oversees generation plans for Georgia Power, which serves 2.3 million customers statewide. Now, all five commission seats are held by Republicans. Hubbard and Waites argue that breaking the GOP hold on the body will help lower bills.

A green energy advocate, Hubbard touts his experience testifying before the commission and developing alternative plans that emphasize a shift toward solar power stored in batteries, rather than building more natural gas plants.

Waites is a former state House member and former Atlanta City Council member. She emphasizes that she would give representation to Black people and Democrats on the commission. In a statement Wednesday, Waites said her previous experience in office would help her work with others to lower rates.

The five-member commission, currently all Republicans, also oversees some natural gas rates for Atlanta Gas Light and Liberty Gas.

Georgia usually doesn’t have statewide elections in odd-numbered years, but these were pushed back after elections were delayed by a lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the statewide voting scheme as discriminatory to Black people. No Georgia Public Service Commission elections have been held since 2022 because of the lawsuit.

Fitz Johnson was appointed to the commission in 2021 by Gov. Brian Kemp and has never faced voters. He was supposed to run for the last two years of his predecessor’s term in 2022. Instead, the District 3 winner can run again next year for a six-year term, after lawmakers rewrote the terms.

Echols was supposed to run for a six-year term in 2022. Instead, the District 2 winner will serve for five years, with the next election in 2030.