The 2025 Georgia PSC Special Election: Why It Matters to You
How Georgia families and businesses can demand transparency from Georgia Power and better control electric bill costs.
TL;DR
A special primary election will be held June 17, 2025 to decide the candidates for the Public Service Commissioners election in November. The PSC sets the rates Georgia Power is allowed to charge. This is the first time in many years Georgia residents have had the opportunity to elect new officials to hold Georgia Power more accountable. Voters will also avoid getting caught in the planned voter purge.
Actions You Can Take
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Attend the PSC Candidate Forum on June 12th to ask the hard questions and demand accountability from PSC candidates
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Vote in the PSC primaries on June 17
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Vote in the general election on November 4 to decide new PSC commissioners
About Georgia Power
Georgia Power (NYSE: GPJA) is Georgia's largest investor-backed electric utility, serving over 2.7 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across 155 of Georgia’s 159 counties. GA is a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO) and produces energy via nuclear, natural gas, coal, and renewables like solar and hydro. Most of their energy production comes via fossil fuels, with a mix of nuclear and renewables making up the rest.
Georgia Power is a legal monopoly in Georgia for the areas and customers they serve. When your home or business requires electricity and Georgia Power is your area’s provider, you have no other option. And as their customer, you have no control over their pricing, which has increased substantially since 2020. Those monthly increases have been big enough to generate news stories highlighting their effect on Georgia families and businesses.
Those price increases have yielded substantial profits for both Georgia Power and its owner, Southern Company. At the same time, Georgia Power’s total retail sales have remained nearly flat. Despite investments in infrastructure and repairs from hurricanes, the company has recorded significant and growing profit because of those price increases.
Monthly power bills (and the company’s profit margins) have increased because price hikes were approved by the Georgia Public Service Commision (PSC).
Georgia Power profit versus total retail sales, years 2021-2024. Source: Southern Company SEC filings.
About the PSC
The Georgia Public Service Commission is a state body responsible for regulating Georgia's investor-owned electric power companies (i.e., Georgia Power), gas, and telecommunications. The PSC does not regulate cell phone service, propane, or water and sewer. The PSC has exclusive power to decide fair, reasonable rates for services under its jurisdiction, including Georgia Power’s pricing for all of its customers.
In theory, the PSC is designed to protect Georgia customers from monopolist providers. They do not guarantee, nor are they beholden to provide, Georgia Power or any other provider profit or shareholder dividends. Like any business, the utility is responsible for its earnings.
In practice, the PSC has approved multiple consecutive price hikes that have driven substantial profits by increasing every customer’s monthly bills. The PSC has also failed to hold Georgia Power accountable to its over-budget nuclear construction, coal use, expansion of renewables, and other plans.
Who is elected to the PSC?
The Georgia Public Service Commission is comprised of five elected, partisan commissioners, each representing one of five districts. These districts are different than those used by the House of Representatives.
PSC district map (left) versus Congressional representation map (right).
Source: Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office.
Each commissioner who represents one of the five districts must reside in that district, but they are elected via a statewide election. The races for commissioners are partisan. Each elected member serves a six-year term that are staggered to ensure continuity. All five commission seatholders are currently Republican.
Key PSC votes since 2019
April 2024: The PSC allows Georgia Power to buy gas-powered electricity from a plant in Florida and build three new natural gas plants. The move offers zero guarantee of any customer rate reductions and raises serious questions about the company’s commitment to renewables.
December 2023: The PSC approves a request for Georgia Power to add an average of $9 to every customer’s bill to pay for their second new nuclear power plant, Unit 4 at Plant Vogtle. This additional charge started in April 2024 after the plant came online. The plant’s activation was delayed for years, and its construction costs more than doubled. The PSC voted to allow Georgia Power to recoup most of their losses from its customers without holding Georgia Power accountable for the mismanagement of the plant’s construction.
May 2023: The PSC approves Georgia Power the ability to recoup more than $2 billion in unexpected fuel costs by hiking rates 12% for customers, adding an average $16 to every customer’s monthly bill.
December 2022: The PSC approves a $1.8 billion Georgia Power rate increase which raises the typical residential bill by $3.60 per month.
July 2020: The PSC votes to allow Georgia Power to charge customers for expenses incurred by the utility during the pandemic, which totaled $7.7 million for March, April, and May. (Note the company reported $1.575 billion in profit for 2020, so it’s unclear why customers needed to take the hit on a cost of less than 0.49% of that.)
December 2019: The PSC votes to raise Georgia Power customer rates by about $1.8 billion over three years. Despite a debate on the company’s profit, no changes were made.
You get the idea.
The 2025 Special Election
In 2025, two seats are up for election: District 2 (incumbent Tim Echols) and District 3 (incumbent Fitz Johnson). There is a special election June 17, 2025 for the primaries, and a final election November 4 to determine the winner.
This election gives Georgia residents and business owners an opportunity to directly affect how much they pay for electricity and influence the state’s adoption of cleaner, renewable energy sources. For years, the entirely Republican commission has rubber-stamped Georgia Power’s requests for rate increases. Changing two seats will introduce fresh agendas and a partisan balance and hold Georgia Power to higher accountability.
This is an issue that affects every family, small business, commercial enterprise, and industrial site. Your vote matters.
Meet the candidates
District 2
Tim Echols (R) (incumbent)
Dr. Alicia Johnson (D)
Lee Muns (R)
District 3
Daniel Blackman (D)
Peter Hubbard (D)
Fitz Johnson (R) (incumbent)
Robert Jones (D)
Keisha Waites (D)
About the 2025 Voter Purge
The State of Georgia is planning a mass voter purge in July 2025 of inactive voter registrations. This is estimated to be 455,000 people, one of the largest purges in U.S. history. Voting in the June 2025 special election for PSC ensures you stay on the voter rolls and out of the purge.
More Information
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The Current regularly features reporting on PSC regulations and its effects on our coastal community.
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Grist.org partnered with WABE in Atlanta on a series of in-depth articles on Georgia Power, the PSC, and their environmental impacts.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regularly reports on the PSC and Georgia Power.
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Patty Durand, an experienced and widely respected energy expert, was a PSC candidate in 2023 and features critical information about the PSC on her website.
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Capital B has a solid guide to the Georgia voter purge and what you can do.