2025 Public Service Commission Race

ALL OF GEORGIA VOTES IN THIS SPECIAL, STATEWIDE ELECTION. TWO PSC SEATS ARE UP FOR ELECTION THIS YEAR! ALL GEORGIANS CAN VOTE FOR BOTH!

WHAT DOES THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION DO?

The Public Service Commission is a 5-member elected board that regulates Georgia’s public utilities, including electric, gas, and telecommunications. 

The duties of the Georgia Public Service Commission include:

  • Determining utility rates and additional costs for Georgia residents and businesses

  • Authorizing utility companies’ investments in energy resources like power plants

  • Laying out how much power Georgia residents will need and what types of energy resources (e.g. natural gas, nuclear energy, solar, etc.) Georgia Power will use

  • Approving the development of new energy facilities and power plants

Why does your vote matter in this election?

At a time when many of us are burdened by increasing utility rates, this election is our chance to elect someone who prioritizes our needs over Georgia Power’s profits.

As the only elected body that can directly control what Georgia Power does, the Public Service Commission directly impacts our day-to-day lives as Georgia residents. Voting for a Public Service Commissioner that represents us is vital to securing the safe, clean, and equitable future that our communities deserve.

  • In Georgia, nearly 1.4 million households across the state struggle with a high energy burden [1], paying an average of $220 per month just on electricity [2]. This means nearly 1.4 million Georgia households are forced into the choice of either paying their electricity bill or covering their other basic necessities. When the PSC votes in favor of a rate hike, BIPOC households, particularly those with vulnerable populations like children and elderly people, are hit the hardest, with the median energy burden of Black households being 45% higher than those of white households [3].

  • The Public Service Commission is supposed to protect us as they directly regulate how much profit utility companies can make. While we struggle to pay our bills, Georgia Power executives line their pockets with our hard-earned money. In 2025 alone, Georgia Power collected a total of $1.8 billion more from their customers [4] at the expense of everyday Georgia residents, who faced 6 separate PSC approved rate hikes in the last two years.

    Our current PSC is entirely Republican commissioners who have been bought out by special interest groups [5]. Historically, the commission has been almost entirely all-white and all-male since the PSC was formed in 1879. Electing a progressive Public Service Commissioner is especially difficult because these elections are statewide despite commissioners only representing individual districts within the state, effectively diluting the voting power of Black voters [6].

  • The decisions that the PSC makes hits marginalized, low-income communities the hardest. Not only do these communities experience the worst burden from rate hikes, the PSC has authority over the construction and maintenance of Georgia’s power plants, which are disproportionately constructed in low-income, POC neighborhoods, emitting harmful toxins to nearby residents.

    Throughout the past few years, Georgia Power has spent billions on new reactors at their nuclear power plant, Plant Vogtle – not only raising our rates, but poisoning rural majority-Black communities to do so, causing increased cancer rates and polluting these communities’ air and water [9]. 

  • Because the PSC can control the breakdown of the energy resources Georgia Power uses, the PSC essentially controls Georgia’s greenhouse gas emissions, with the current commission consistently approving agreements for more fossil fuels despite the opposition from consumers and clean energy advocates.

    In 2025, despite Georgia residents urging the PSC to vote for reduced fossil fuel usage, the PSC voted to maintain their reliance on fossil fuels and natural gas [7]. Despite Georgia Power’s promise to close its coal plants, they’ve recently decided to burn down even more fossil fuels, driving up our costs to drive up their profits in their plan to build more data centers [8]. The PSC has the power to veto this decision, but it won’t happen unless our commissioners actually represent us

  • Though the PSC race isn’t publicized, we all feel the decisions the Public Service Commission makes in our day-to-day lives. Voting for Public Service Commissioners that represents us means more affordable electricity bills, cleaner air, and healthier communities.