ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia Power customers will see a new balance of power at the agency that sets their electric rates when Democrats take three of the five seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission in January, the first Democratic majority on the board in three decades.
Commissioner Peter Hubbard kept his District 3 seat in last Tuesday’s election, beating former Commissioner Fitz Johnson in a rematch by about 13 percentage points when the race was called that night. Shelia Edwards captured the open District 5 seat, left vacant by Tricia Pridemore, over Republican Josh Tolbert by roughly 10 points. Every Georgian votes in these races, though each commissioner has to reside in the district whose seat they hold.
They will join District 2 Commissioner Alicia Johnson, who was not on the ballot this year. Hubbard and Alicia Johnson won their seats last year amid anger over rising power bills, the first Democratic wins for a statewide constitutional office in Georgia since 2006, and the two have dissented on several commission votes since. The panel had been all Republican from 2006 until the start of 2026.
Hubbard has said one of the first moves for the new majority will be an affordability docket, a set of hearings looking at why bills are high and how customers might save. He has also pushed for a fresh rate case covering Georgia’s natural gas companies, saying more than a decade has passed since the last one.
Relief on monthly bills is not expected right away. Georgia Power’s current rate freeze runs into 2028, when the utility’s next long-term energy plan is due, followed by a full rate case, the first since 2022. Sitting commissioners have said they expect Georgia Power to come back next year with a mid-cycle revision of that plan, driven by the surge in data center demand.
Data centers sit at the center of the debate. Georgia Power has argued that revenue from the large facilities will push down costs for homes and small businesses, a claim it repeated in its agreement to serve a planned OpenAI data center near Savannah. Consumer groups have criticized how much of that contract and other utility filings were redacted as trade secrets.
Commissioners serve six-year terms, giving Democrats a four-year window with the majority under the current lineup.
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