ATLANTA (AP) — On Tuesday, Tim Echols, a Republican, secured renomination in one of the primary elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission, while Democrats Keisha Waites and Peter Hubbard seemed to be heading toward a runoff on July 15.
Voters Tuesday were deciding party nominees for two posts on the commission, which oversees utilities including Georgia Power Co.
Separate primaries were held for Republicans and Democrats. Candidates are required to reside in a specific district but campaign statewide. Voter turnout was low, with under 200,000 participants statewide.
In the District 2 Republican primary, incumbent Echols defeated opponent Lee Muns of Harlem by a 3 to 1 margin. Echols, who lives in Hoschton, has served on the Public Service Commission since 2011. In November, he will go up against Democrat Alicia Johnson of Savannah, who faced no opposition on Tuesday.
In mostly complete returns in the District 3 Democratic primary, Waites, a former state legislator and Atlanta City Council member, won the most votes but fell short of a majority. That means she will face the second-place finisher, Hubbard, in a runoff. He’s a green energy activist from Atlanta. Former utility regulator and utility executive Robert Jones of Brookhaven finished third and will miss the runoff.
The winner of the Democratic runoff will face incumbent Fitz Johnson of Atlanta, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Daniel Blackman of Atlanta appeared on ballots in the District 3 Democratic primary, but votes for him were not counted after a judge ruled he hadn’t moved into the district in time to meet the November 2024 deadline
Debate in the primary centered on bills charged by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co. Georgia Power customers have seen bills rise six times in recent years because of higher natural gas costs, construction projects including two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, and other factors. A typical Georgia Power residential customer now pays more than $175 a month, including taxes.
Echols defends his record.
“I am grateful to Republicans who value our low rates and grid reliability, allowing us to stay the No. 1 state to do business,” Echols said in a statement Tuesday. “Our Public Service Commission is laser-focused on protecting Georgia families.
Waites has said bills are “going in the wrong direction” and touted her previous experience in office, saying she would be a viable Democratic candidate in November.
“I have a long track record and history of fighting and standing up for working families and seniors,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a Monday candidate forum.
Hubbard said he believed his platform would triumph in the Democratic contest on July 15, saying he would “fight for a Georgia powered by clean, low-cost renewable energy. I have a detailed plan to create that future and lower power bills.”
The five-member commission, currently all Republicans, also oversees some natural gas rates for Atlanta Gas Light and Liberty Gas.
Georgia usually doesn’t have statewide elections in odd-numbered years, but these were pushed back after elections were delayed by a lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the statewide voting scheme as discriminatory to Black people. No Georgia Public Service Commission elections have been held since 2022 because of the lawsuit.
Johnson was appointed to the commission in 2021 by Gov. Brian Kemp and has never faced voters. He was supposed to run for the last two years of his predecessor’s term in 2022. Instead, the District 3 winner can run again next year for a six-year term, after lawmakers rewrote the terms.
Echols was supposed to run for a six-year term in 2022. Instead, the District 2 winner will serve for five years, with the next election in 2030.
