Georgia utility commission races test party loyalty after recent power bill hikes

The race for two Georgia Public Service Commission seats this November is becoming a test on whether pocketbook issues and concerns about unchecked data center growth can overcome traditional party lines.

Voters are paying more attention to these once little-known, down-ballot races after the commission signed off on a series of Georgia Power rate increases in recent years.

Nancy Lubeck, a Twiggs County resident who called herself a lifelong Republican, said she voted last year for Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson, the two Democrats who flipped seats on the then all-Republican PSC, because she said she wants to see things done differently at the commission. She said she voted in the GOP primary last month but will likely vote for the Democratic candidates again in November.

Lubeck, who is fighting a proposed data center down the street from her home from being built, said she is concerned that despite a recent promise to marginally lower energy bills, the commission’s approval of a massive energy infrastructure buildout to largely serve data centers could end up raising bills in the future. For that reason, she said she will continue to vote for Democrats this November, hoping for a change of direction for the powerful utility commission.



https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/06/08/georgia-utility-commission-races-test-party-loyalty-after-recent-power-bill-hikes/