There were three races on Georgia’s runoff ballot in January: Two for US Senate and one for Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC).
Democrats prevailed in the first two but came up 34,000 votes short in the third. If elected, Daniel Blackman would have become the first Democrat to serve on the powerful five-member Commission since 2006.
The PSC regulates the rates charged and services provided by most electric, natural gas and telecommunication utilities operating in Georgia. It also monitors natural gas pipelines for safety. No surprise, then, after years of Republican control: Georgia has some of the highest utility rates in the United States--and they are going in the wrong direction.
Consumers and communities haven’t had a voice on the PSC in years. Instead, the Commission is a pawn of utility companies and GOP elites. In 2022, that can change. One of the PSC Commission seats will be on the ballot—and the incumbent is a Trumpist. Here’s what writer Jonathan Grant says about him:
On the Georgia Public Service Commission, Tim Echols functions largely as a cheerleader for Georgia Power Company and Plant Vogtle. Like every other PSC member—and all statewide officeholders—he’s a Republican. He’s also a proud pro-lifer, Trumpist evangelical, and founder of TeenPact, “a hands-on leadership experience for Christian students,” which gives out the Tim Echols Political Involvement Award and sells Frisbee discs for $12 at its online store. I think his goal is to build a next-gen army of Republican politicians.
To top off Georgia’s misfortune, he’s also active on social media and seems to be the most outspoken, loquacious, and insufferable commissioner, by far. I thought he was a tool even before he trolled Democratic PSC candidates’ town hall Tuesday night, but even more so now.
In late 2017, the Commission ignored its own staff’s evidence and voted unanimously to back Georgia Power’s plan to complete two additional units of the long-delayed and way-over-budget Vogtle nuclear power plant in Burke County. (It’s a bit of a mess, if you haven’t heard.) At the time of the decision, Echols called Units 3 and 4 “our reactors,” signaling the Commission’s ownership of the project. By this time, of course, Echols and his colleagues were fully in bed with Georgia Power and had been asleep there for many years. However, he had it wrong: Vogtle owned him, not vice versa. Two years later, defending his decision to jack up Georgia Power rates, Echols said something equally insipid and alarming: “High profits should help keep the company’s credit score from dipping, which ultimately would have hurt customers who are responsible for Georgia Power’s financial health.”
Republican socialism is the worst socialism.
Georgia Democrats will defend US Senate and House seats in 2022 and make a historic push for the Governor’s office. They will also try to pick up the critical Attorney General’s post, to ensure the state’s voting and election laws are fairly enforced. As if that’s not enough, there’s one more critical race in Georgia: a PSC seat. Democrats have another chance to end Republicans’ total control of utilities in the state. They were close in 2020. With a little more work, they can get there in 2022.
Pitch in Here!
Thursday, Feb 18, 2021 · 1:38:17 PM +00:00 · harrisco99
Incumbent Tim Echols has received donations from nuclear power interests, pipeline and energy companies and property developers — plus Chick-Fil-A, the founder of News Max, the DeVos Family and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. In 2022 Georgia Democrats can nominate someone who will represent ordinary people who have to struggle to pay rising utility bills.