Democrats seek PSC majority over power hikes

It's at the bottom of your ballot, but top of mine when it comes to your utility bills. We're talking about the races for the Georgia Public Service Commission. The five-member board decides how much utility companies can charge you. Tonight, Newsnet reporter Rob DiRienzo is live at Georgia Power headquarters in downtown Atlanta with a closer look at the candidates. Rob, there's much at stake in these races. There sure is, Christine. This election day, Democrats are trying to seize control of the Georgia Public Service Commission. That push comes as a lot of voters are unhappy with their Georgia Power bills. Now, the PSC regulates utility companies here in Georgia, Of course, the largest being Georgia Power. The company has raised bills with plans on adding 10 gigawatts of power as a surge of data centers crop up across the state. That's become a central issue in this race, specifically who should pay for all of that extra power. I asked the Democratic incumbent for District 3, Peter Hubbard, about what's at stake. What's at stake at this race is the direction of where our power bills are going. We have to make sure that the data centers actually stick around to pay off those costs for the power plants and transmission lines we're building today. Hubbard's Republican challenger, Fitz Johnson, did not respond to our interview request, nor did he participate in the Atlanta Press Club debate. His website does not mention data centers, but it pushes for an America-first energy agenda. In the District 5 race, Democrat Sheila Edwards accused Republican Josh Tolbert of removing his support for data centers from his website. Are you lying to the public now, or are you lying to them then about your position relative to data centers? And the good people of Georgia need to know that because at the end of the day, they do not want these things in their community. My opponent likes to pick and choose words off of a website to try to characterize my position. I've been clear. I am pro-transparency first. We need to have a transparent outcome where people can be making decisions and there's not backroom deals around data centers, that the community involvement is there. And then, and only then, if a community under that transparent process wants a data center, that there is no cost to the existing community. Christina, of course, the early voting has already started. Election day is November 3rd. Now, Rob, what can these candidates promise realistically to voters? That, of course, is the million-dollar question. It all comes down to your power bill. They have final say over those power increases, especially here at Georgia Power. Now, in the last four years, the commission has approved six separate rate increases of Georgia Power customers. That's an average of about $43 per customer per month. Now, Democrats last year, Rob, won the PSC in a landslide because of frustration over those price increases. So what's their path to taking control of the commission? So if the Democrats win both of these seats, they have a 3-2 majority. If a Republican can win just one, they will stay in control of the commission. Now, this all may depend on what happens higher up the ballot. Christine? Yeah. All right. So many races we're going to be really watching closely on Election Day. Thanks so much, Rob, for that report. Several Latino lawmakers stood with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms today. encouraging voters to support her bid. Some highlighted her tangible plans to help the affordability crisis, ideas for the housing shortage and funding education. Others said they appreciate how she's encouraging everyone to have a seat at the table. But everyone says she's the clear choice this fall. I say Georgia is being sick. If Georgia is sick with high cost of insurance, high cost of electricity, high cost of gas, high cost of everything, you gotta take your medicine. And there's only one way to take your medicine in this race, and that's Bottoms up. Bottoms vowing to be a governor for all Georgians, saying she'll stand up to the Trump administration so that immigrants don't have to worry about run-ins with ICE at the doctors. The group of Latino lawmakers also encouraged everyone to vote early. As a reminder, early voting wraps up a week from tomorrow.