Georgia To Vote On Energy Costs

What A Day

Crooked Media

News, Daily News

4.6 • 12K Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A crucial race for Georgia's Public Service Commission is coming up in November. And though the name sounds boring, it's a race that really matters. That's because the commission is in charge of regulating public utilities in the state, including electric, gas, and telecommunications. Right now, all five commissioners are Republicans…but two of them are up for election this fall. And the Democratic challengers are strong. To learn more about the importance of this race, we spoke with John Taylor, Executive Director of the Black Male Initiative, a nonprofit focused on civic engagement in Georgia. And in headlines, President Donald Trump continues to threaten Chicago…but this time with war, Russia attacks Ukraine in its latest aerial strike, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. might have to refund some money it's collected from Trump's infamous tariffs.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is Monday, September 8th.
0:04.3	I'm Josie Duffy Rice in for Jane Koston, and this is What a Day.
0:08.3	The show that wonders if you watched the MTV Video Music Awards last night,
0:11.5	because we didn't even really know that those were still a thing.
0:14.8	Is MTV even still a thing?
0:17.2	Who knows?
0:29.9	No. Who knows? On today's show, we discussed chrypocalypse now, and Russia continues to escalate attacks against Ukraine.
0:39.9	But let's start with some regional politics and why one seemingly small election matters. Here in Georgia, where I live, there is a crucial
0:46.7	statewide race coming up this November for the Public Service Commission. The name sounds
0:52.5	pretty boring, but this race actually really matters.
0:57.0	The commissioners are in charge of regulating public utilities in the state, including electricity,
1:01.7	gas, and telecommunications, which basically means that they regulate how much Georgia families and
1:06.7	residents have to pay for these utilities, which means that their job affects pretty much each and
1:11.5	every resident in the state. And currently, all five commissioners are Republicans. In the past
1:18.4	three years, the commission has raised the cost of electricity six times, which amounts to an
1:24.5	average monthly increase of $43 per household. It's a pretty big deal in a state that ranks cost of living as the most critical issue. And meanwhile, data centers in Georgia have gotten a tax break. Yes, those big warehouses full of energy-guzzling servers and equipment that are used to power AI and crypto, are pushing
1:45.8	our electrical grid to the brim and wasting our drinking water, too. And Georgia's data center market
1:51.2	is one of the biggest in the country. Now, two of the five commissioners are for election this
1:56.3	fall. And if you can believe this, these two seats are the only statewide election on the ballot this year, the only ones.
2:03.4	Republicans have a major advantage in these races because while each commissioner has their own district, they are all elected statewide.
2:10.8	But this year, there are two strong Democratic challengers.
2:14.4	And District 2, which covers the eastern part of the state from outside of Atlanta,
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