It has been almost four years since voters last had a chance to choose who represents them on the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), the five-member body that regulates Georgia Power and the state’s other investor-owned utilities.
In 2022, elections for two commission seats were postponed by a long-running voting rights case that is still winding its way through the courts. Then, this March, the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill — which was later signed into law — further delaying elections until 2025 and beyond.
Now, a voter and two environmental groups have sued in an attempt to block the new law and force Georgia to hold PSC elections as soon as possible.
Credit: Drew Kann
Credit: Drew Kann
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s top elections official. The three plaintiffs in the case are Brionté McCorkle, Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV) Education Fund, Inc. and Georgia WAND Education Fund, Inc.
Both GCV Education Fund and Georgia WAND are climate and environmental justice-focused nonprofits. McCorkle is a Georgia voter and executive director of GCV, who is also a plaintiff in a separate case challenging the state’s rules for electing PSC commissioners statewide.
The law challenged by the plaintiffs, previously known as House Bill 1312, passed the Georgia House along party lines, 93-66. Some Democrats supported the measure in the Senate on a 43-9 vote. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in April.
Before elections were halted in 2022, PSC commissioners served six-year, staggered terms.
But the delays triggered by the voting rights case disrupted that cadence, leading legislators who were behind HB 1312 to reshuffle the schedule. Republican backers of the bill said the “reset” of commissioners’ terms was needed to ensure no more than two PSC seats were up for reelection in a single year.
The result is that two years or more were added to the terms several PSC commissioners are currently serving.
The Georgia Constitution states PSC commissioners are elected to six year terms. The plaintiffs argue that can only be changed through a constitutional amendment, and because the legislature did not approve an amendment, they argue HB 1312 violates the state Constitution. The complaint also says the new law deprives the plaintiffs of due process as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Bryan Sells, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs, said their challenge to the law is “very simple.”
“The only thing you really need to understand is that the Legislature cannot, by statute, amend the Constitution,” he said in an interview.
The plaintiffs also filed a preliminary injunction Wednesday seeking to block Raffensperger from implementing the law and to force him to call elections for three of the PSC seats “as soon as practicable.”
Their request asks the judge to require elections for PSC Vice-Chairman Tim Echols’ District 2 seat, the District 3 seat belonging to Commissioner Fitz Johnson and the District 5 post held by Commissioner Tricia Pridemore. Elections for the District 2 and 3 seats are not scheduled until November 2025, and District 5 would not appear on ballots until November 2026.
If the judge agrees with the plaintiffs’ arguments, how quickly elections could be called will be up to the court to decide, but Sells said they intend to ask for one or more to be held this year. The next general election for many state and federal offices, including the presidency, is scheduled for Nov. 5.
“Certainly there’s no reason to wait until November of 2025 to hold these elections, which is what HB 1312 does,” Sells said.
Raffensperger’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The challenge to the PSC election law comes in the wake of several major regulatory decisions the commission has made concerning Georgia Power, the state’s largest electric utility.
Late last year, the PSC cleared Georgia Power to collect most of the remaining cost of the long-delayed and over-budget new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle from customers. That decision has led to a sharp rise in the price Georgia Power customers pay for electricity, with the largest chunk hitting customers’ bills in June.
For a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, Georgia Power estimates Vogtle’s costs will lead to a cumulative increase of $14.38 in their monthly bills. Customers that use more electricity and others on different plans could see much larger jumps in their bills.
Earlier this year, the commission also signed off on a deal allowing Georgia Power to expand its reliance on oil and gas to generate electricity and add battery storage to its system.
Meanwhile, more major cases are on the horizon. Next year, the PSC is expected to vote on cases involving Georgia Power’s long-term energy plans and the rates the company charges. Oral arguments in a controversial test of Georgia’s eminent domain laws are also set for next month.
The complaint doesn’t directly challenge any of the PSC’s past decisions, but McCorkle, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said she believes the current commission has been a “rubber stamp” for Georgia Power and elections are needed to hold them accountable.
“If there is no change on the commission, I can say with confidence today, they will absolutely vote to raise rates,” McCorkle said. “This is why we have to have an election.”
The PSC’s executive director, Reese McAlister, said he disagreed with the “rubber stamp” label, adding in a statement that all commission hearings are broadcast publicly and are available on the PSC’s website “to ensure accessibility and transparency.”
PSC Chairman Jason Shaw declined to comment on the litigation, but said, “the commissioners will follow any law passed by the General Assembly or ordered by the courts.”
Commissioners Johnson and Pridemore also declined to comment, citing the lawsuit. Echols and Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
-Staff writer Mark Niesse contributed to this report.
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