FW: Macon Telegraph: Republican PSC candidate Fitz Johnson defends all GOP PSC, promotes PSC data center regs

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From: Mark Woodall <woodal...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 8:09 AM
Subject: Macon Telegraph: Republican PSC candidate Fitz Johnson defends all GOP PSC, promotes PSC data center regs

 

OUR PLANET Republican candidate defends all-GOP Public Service Commission at Middle GA campaign stop 

 

By Margaret Walker Updated October 23, 2025 2:19 PM 

 

  Incumbent Republican Public Service Commissioner Fitz Johnson rallied voters at a handful of campaign events Wednesday across Georgia, ending the day with a gathering at a Warner Robins Steak n Shake. Johnson’s District 3 seat on the Public Service Commission is up for grabs in the General Election next month. He’ll square off against Democrat Peter Hubbard. Campaign talking points in the race have centered around the cost of power bills and whether renewable energy sources are reliable. 

 

Johnson urged voters to hit the polls early, saying a Democrat win would give the party “hope” in future elections and open the door for what he described as Green New Deal-style energy policies that he said would raise costs and reduce reliability. “My opponent wants to take away your coal. He wants to take away your natural gas,” Johnson said. “He wants to bring in this Green New Deal energy policy that they have in California. And I already told them, don’t California my Georgia.” 

 

One other PSC seat is on the ballot in November: District 2 incumbent Tim Echols, also a Republican, is running against Democrat Alicia Johnson.     The five-member PSC, which regulates power companies and has sway in how Georgia sources its energy and the cost for consumers, is made up entirely of Republicans. Johnson said Wednesday that the all-Republican PSC is a key reason why Georgia has maintained affordable, reliable energy and strong economic growth, tying the commission’s work to the state’s 12-year streak at the number one state for business. 

 

  He said large companies choose Georgia because they can count on its power supply. “We’re the number one state to do business the last 12 years in a row,” Johnson said. “And one of the reasons, we’re doing our part at the commission, is because when folks want to bring their businesses here, they want to make sure their power is available, it’s reliable, it’s dependable and it’s affordable. And they know they get all four when they come to the state of Georgia.” Area Development magazine has ranked Georgia first in that regard for 12 straight years, an accomplishment recently touted by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp. 

 

Johnson also credited the Republican-led PSC with putting rules in place that protect residential customers from having to back the bill for large data centers and allow a three-year base rate freeze for Georgia Power customers. Data centers have become a major talking point for the state, as experts have assessed Georgia as the fastest-growing data center area. “We put a rule in place down at the commission (that when) data centers come to your town, your city, they will, for one, pay for their infrastructure up front, when they arrive,” Johnson said. “They will pay for upstream generation and transmission up front. They will sign long term deals ... (and) they’ll also have a minimum spend. So the combination of what that all does, is it puts downward pressure on our rates, and it also it strengthens our grid.” 

 

However, Johnson’s opponent partially credits high power bills with special treatment for data centers, saying those large users pay less per kilowatt-hour than regular consumers while Georgians absorb the cost. Hubbard’s campaign platform is focused on lowering power bills, expanding clean-energy solutions and reforming utility regulation.

 

 Johnson is the Chairman of the PSC’s Energy Committee, was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2021, and has served on the commission since 2022. In 2023, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners named Johnson to chair a new national committee, the Task Force on Natural Gas Resource Planning. The PSC regulates the state’s utilities, including electricity, natural gas and telecommunications. Georgia’s PSC has been all Republican for nearly 20 years. “We are very proud to have five conservative Republicans serving on Georgia Public Service Commission, and we want to continue to have that,” Johnson said “It’s all of us running this state the way it should be run, with good conservative values. Let’s not let them get a chance to steal one of these seats.” U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who’s running against Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026, joined Johnson at the event and urged voters to cast their ballots early for the Republicans on the ticket.

Read more at: https://www.macon.com/news/environment/article312614683.html#storylink=cpy