Democrats just won control of Georgia Power’s regulator for the first time in 30 years — and its OpenAI data center contract was entirely redacted

Beginning in January, three of the five officials on the Georgia Public Service Commission will be Democrats. It will be the first time the party has controlled the powerful energy regulation board in 30 years. The commission, which regulates utilities including the state’s largest electric provider, Georgia Power, has come under more scrutiny in recent years due to rising power bills and the high energy demands of data centers.

Now, Democrats plan to focus on affordability, clean energy, and closer scrutiny of Georgia Power.

“There’s a long laundry list of things that need to be looked into,” said Democratic commissioner Peter Hubbard, who won his reelection bid this week. “And so we’ll have to triage, in fact, and decide how best to move forward.”

One of his first priorities will be launching an affordability docket, he said — a series of hearings that would delve into the reasons for high power bills and ways to save customers money. Hubbard said he and his fellow Democrats also plan to bring close scrutiny to upcoming Georgia Power requests around making more energy and adjusting customer rates. Shelia Edwards and Alicia Johnson are the other two Democrats on the PSC.

“We may not be able to expect immediate effects on our wallets,” said Emory University associate professor Kristin Phillips, who studies energy burden and the PSC. “But I think we can expect immediate change in the types of decisions that are made.”

Affordability and high energy bills were driving issues in the campaigns both this year and last year, the two elections that together resulted in the new Democratic majority on the commission.

“We knew that we had to connect the dots between energy and affordability,” said Brionté McCorkle of Georgia Conservation Voters, a group that campaigned for the Democratic candidates and worked to draw attention to the PSC elections. “It’s not just this obscure regulatory body like it used to be treated. Its decisions directly affect household budgets, communities, health, and our energy future.”

Chris Womack, the CEO of Southern Company, Georgia Power’s parent company, also acknowledged the central importance of affordability during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Thursday. But Womack said he’s confident the utility can address those concerns with the new commissioners.

“If you look at what we have been doing with rate freezes, with benefits, with how we are providing benefits from growth to customers — existing customers — as well as to the communities, we think that’s a strong platform to stand on,” he said.