SAVANNAH, Ga. — For more than a century, the Georgia Public Service Commission has operated almost exclusively within the confines of the state capital, holding its administrative meetings, rate-setting hearings, and regulatory debates in Atlanta. Because of that geographic centralization, the members of the public who routinely show up to voice their opinions, challenge utilities, and address the state’s elected regulators have predominantly hailed from the metropolitan Atlanta area.
That dynamic shifted on Tuesday when the five-member commission traveled to Savannah to hold a public meeting on the coast. The rare trip outside of Atlanta was driven largely by Commissioner Alicia Johnson, one of two recently elected Democrats on the board, who has spent months pressing her colleagues to take the commission on the road. For Johnson, whose district spans coastal Chatham and Effingham counties, the journey was a vital step toward opening the floor to residents who rarely get direct access to state regulators.
“For over 100 years, the Public Service Commission has met in Atlanta and rarely, if at all, has meetings across the state,” Johnson said during the proceedings. She emphasized that the gathering provided a long-overdue opportunity for commissioners to speak directly with constituents outside of the metro area and to move beyond hearing exclusively from professional interveners, corporate advocates, and lobbyists.
The delegation of commissioners arrived in Savannah to a packed room of coastal residents eager to address pressing energy concerns. Following a brief administrative agenda and a staff presentation detailing the commission’s recent actions on the booming data center industry—including the approval of a controversial contract between Georgia Power and OpenAI alongside new protections for everyday ratepayers—the floor was opened for public comment.
The ensuing discussions quickly turned contentious, reflecting widespread local anxiety over the rapid proliferation of energy-hungry technological infrastructure and the steady climb in residential utility bills. Many of the residents who stepped up to the microphone directed their frustration toward a massive OpenAI data center slated for Effingham County, just northwest of Savannah. Speakers repeatedly demanded greater transparency regarding the utility contract underpinning the project, noting that it represents the largest single-customer commitment recorded since Georgia Power began formally reporting such agreements in 2024.
“There’s a reason you’re named the Public Service Commission and not the Georgia Power service commission or the OpenAI service commission,” said Bill Wright, a resident of Pooler, located northwest of Savannah. “Your name tells you where your loyalty should lie.”
In response to the sharp critique, commissioners sought to clarify the boundaries of their regulatory authority. They explained that their oversight is strictly limited to the generation, transmission, and sale of electricity, and that they only hold jurisdiction over data centers if those facilities explicitly choose Georgia Power as their electricity provider. Regulators encouraged frustrated attendees to direct their zoning and local development concerns to municipal and county elected officials.
Data centers were not the only source of friction during the meeting. Commenters also turned their anger toward the overall cost of electricity across the state, arguing that rising utility bills are placing an unsustainable burden on working families. Michael Hawthorne, an organizing strategist with the Sierra Club, took aim at the commission’s core statutory mandate to ensure that electricity rates remain just and reasonable. Stepping away from the podium, Hawthorne posed a direct question to the crowded room: “Does anybody feel like everything’s reasonably priced?”
The audience replied with a resounding, unified “No.”
Reflecting on the session afterward, Johnson acknowledged that the intense frustration and anger voiced by the Savannah crowd came as no surprise. She noted that the grievances expressed by coastal residents mirror the exact sentiments she encountered throughout her campaign for the commission.
“It’s what I’ve heard since running for office, and so I’m just glad that our other commissioners got to hear some of it, too,” Johnson said.
Jason Shaw, a Republican commissioner from south Georgia who serves as the PSC chair, echoed the sentiment that the meeting validated broader regional concerns. In an interview following the session, Shaw acknowledged that transparency has emerged as a central point of contention surrounding the OpenAI data center, noting that the opacity began at the local level. Furthermore, Shaw conceded that Georgia Power must do more to pull back the curtain on its massive data center agreements.
“We’ve got to do a better job of forcing the company to be able to present more to us that’s not redacted,” Shaw said, adding that it is an area where the commission is currently working very closely.
For several attendees, however, the regulatory hurdles and corporate secrecy surrounding energy contracts pointed to a deeper political failure. Some commenters openly accused the commissioners of neglecting the interests of the public that elected them, coupling their grievances with pointed reminders that the political landscape could shift dramatically in the upcoming November elections.
“If you truly want to be on this board, it’s time to step up and protect the people,” said Corey Foreman, a candidate running for the state Senate from a coastal district. “If you can’t do that, I will be more than happy to help remove you.”
The political tensions at the Savannah meeting underscore the high stakes surrounding the commission, which experienced a historic shift at the start of the year. From 2006 until early 2025, all five seats on the PSC were held by Republicans. That unbroken monopoly ended when Peter Hubbard and Johnson secured victory after unseating two incumbent Republicans in an election cycle dominated by public outrage over climbing power bills and a series of prior rate increases.
Since taking office, the two Democratic commissioners have frequently cast dissenting votes and subjected Georgia Power executives to rigorous questioning during hearings. At the same time, both have been transparent about the limitations of their power while remaining in the minority on the five-member board, where policy shifts concerning carbon emissions, rate structures, and data center approvals require a three-vote majority.
Those dynamics have placed the commission at the center of a high-stakes electoral battle this fall. The District 3 seat currently held by Hubbard, along with the District 5 seat recently vacated by Republican Tricia Pridemore—who transitioned to work for a company building data centers—are both on the ballot in November. If Democratic challengers succeed in capturing both seats, the party would secure a majority on the powerful regulatory body for the first time in decades.
Hubbard, who was elected last year to a shortened one-year term, is currently facing former Republican commissioner Fitz Johnson in a high-profile rematch election for a full six-year term. Meanwhile, in District 5, Democrat Shelia Edwards is mounting a challenge against Republican Josh Tolbert. While candidates are legally required to reside within their specific districts, both races are decided by a statewide vote.
Early voting across Georgia is scheduled to begin on October 13.