Georgia’s “Dirty Energy Duo”: Dark Money and Utility Cash Flow to Republican PSC Candidates Tolbert and Johnson
tags
Atlanta, GA — With just eight days until Election Day, new campaign finance disclosures reveal that Georgia’s two Republican Public Service Commission candidates are backed by an unprecedented flood of dark money and campaign cash from the utilities the Public Service Commission is tasked with regulating — raising serious questions about whose interests they would actually serve on the commission that decides how much Georgians pay for electricity.
A dark money group called Powering Georgia’s Future has poured $2.5 million into the campaign of Republican PSC District 5 candidate Josh Tolbert — the largest independent expenditure in PSC history. Meanwhile, Republican PSC District 3 candidate Fitz Johnson has raised more than $160,000 from gas and electric utilities and related interests, including more than $140,000 from donors tied to Southern Company or Georgia Power.
Climate Power Georgia State Director Mark McLaurin issued the following statement:
“Georgians are already paying sky-high utility bills while Georgia Power and its parent company rake in billions in profits — and now we’re learning that the two Republicans running for the Public Service Commission are backed by $2.5 million in dark money and more than $160,000 from donors tied to utilities they’d be regulating. This isn’t a coincidence. This is what it looks like when the utilities and fossil fuel industries try to buy a regulatory body. Georgians deserve commissioners who work for them — not ones bankrolled by the industries driving their bills through the roof.”
Georgia families are already paying the price
- Republicans on the PSC have raised Georgia Power bills six times in three years, costing families $516 more a year — and Tolbert has given no indication he’d do anything differently.
- Georgia families could see utility bill increases of up to 11% per month by 2028 to cover the cost of powering data centers — and considering who is funding their campaigns, Tolbert and Johnson likely have no plan to stop it.
###