MEMO: Energy affordability is driving Georgia voters to the polls this election
October 28, 2026
tags
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Climate Power
DATE: October 27, 2026
RE: Energy affordability is driving Georgia voters to the polls this election
In 2024, Trump and Republicans promised to cut energy costs in half. Instead, Trump and Georgia Republicans slashed cheaper clean energy, entered a costly war in Iran, and paved the way for rapid data center expansion with virtually no guardrails, all of which have led to skyrocketing gas and utility prices while worsening air and water quality and slowing economic growth. Over the past year, energy affordability has become a top issue for Georgia voters struggling to choose between filling up their gas tanks, keeping the lights on, and putting food on the table. Voters aren’t happy, and they’re set to make their voices heard at the polls. Early voting runs through October 30, and Election Day is November 3.
Trump and Georgia Republicans’ policies are costing Georgians
- Electricity prices in Georgia have spiked 21% since Trump took office, and Georgia Power bills have gone up six times since 2023, costing families more than $500 a year.
- Georgians have paid an extra $2 billion for gas since Trump launched his war of choice in Iran, with the average household spending roughly $818 more at the pump. Diesel in Georgia hit $6.35 a gallon in September, setting an all-time record.
- Between higher gas prices, utility bills, and tariffs, Trump’s policies cost the average Georgia family an extra $2,017 through the first half of 2026.
- Trump and congressional Republicans’ 2025 budget bill gutted clean energy, the cheapest and fastest way to bring new power online. It is projected to raise Georgia household energy bills by $270 a year and has put 1,860 jobs and $632 million in investment at risk.
Energy affordability dominated the most important races in Georgia
- Georgia Recorder/WABE: Affordability is more than a political buzzword for many Georgia voters
- “Everything is more expensive these days, and Georgia voters across the state say the cost of living is shaping how they vote.”
- “Many indicated that for them, ‘affordability’ was more than a buzzword. Voters reported having to readjust their shopping habits to either only buying essentials or opting for less healthy foods, as well as having to pick between necessities.”
- “‘Everything has tripled in prices,’ said Michelle Hayes, a resident of Stephens County in northeast Georgia who cast her ballot in Toccoa. ‘They may say they’re doing it for the long run, but people got to survive through it to get to that point, and it’s not feasible. So I do not vote the way that I did a couple of years ago.’ Hayes described herself as a ‘very strong’ Republican voter, but she said she drew a Democratic ballot for the first time in this month’s primary election largely because of the cost of living.”
- Daily Beast: MAGA Candidate Begs for Diesel Money as Prices Skyrocket
- “MAGA Senate candidate Mike Collins is begging for diesel money from supporters while repeatedly voting against ending Donald Trump’s war in Iran despite soaring fuel costs… The average price of diesel is $6.31, according to AAA, more than $2.75 more per gallon than it was a year ago, and just shy of the record price for diesel ever hit in the state just last week at $6.35 per gallon.”
- “MAGA Senate candidate Mike Collins is begging for diesel money from supporters while repeatedly voting against ending Donald Trump’s war in Iran despite soaring fuel costs… The average price of diesel is $6.31, according to AAA, more than $2.75 more per gallon than it was a year ago, and just shy of the record price for diesel ever hit in the state just last week at $6.35 per gallon.”
- WSB: Gas prices take center stage as Bottoms, Jackson campaign for Georgia governor
- “Gas prices and the cost of driving are becoming a major issue in Georgia’s governor’s race… The proposal comes as gas and diesel prices have become a growing affordability concern for Georgia drivers.”
- “Gas prices and the cost of driving are becoming a major issue in Georgia’s governor’s race… The proposal comes as gas and diesel prices have become a growing affordability concern for Georgia drivers.”
- Georgia Recorder: Growth of data centers becomes a defining issue of the midterms, entangling some Georgia candidates
- “At the top of the ballot, Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor, has criticized Republican nominee Rick Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive, for his investment in a data center in Texas through a company Jackson was the head of until recently. Though his campaign has tried to distance itself from that development, in his campaign financial disclosure, Jackson is listed as the CEO and president of Datahub Developers, the company that is advancing the data center in Texas that the local community is fighting.”
- “At the top of the ballot, Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor, has criticized Republican nominee Rick Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive, for his investment in a data center in Texas through a company Jackson was the head of until recently. Though his campaign has tried to distance itself from that development, in his campaign financial disclosure, Jackson is listed as the CEO and president of Datahub Developers, the company that is advancing the data center in Texas that the local community is fighting.”
- Columbus Ledger Enquirer: What separates the four Georgia Public Service Commission candidates in the 2026 election
- Peter Hubbard: “Right now, I can raise the alarm on unfair rate hikes and question utility margins, and dig into the question of what data centers should be paying. But without a third vote, the current majority can simply vote us down and push through those costs anyway. Winning Sheila’s seat changes this.”
- Capital B Atlanta: Meet the PSC Candidates Fighting to Lower Georgia Electric Bills
- “PSC elections have even greater implications for many Black Georgians, who tend to carry a higher energy cost burden due to having less energy efficient homes.” Brionté McCorkle, Georgia Conservation Voters: “Black voters in particular are concerned about where these data centers are going… and ultimately whether or not the data centers are going to make their bills go up.”
- “PSC elections have even greater implications for many Black Georgians, who tend to carry a higher energy cost burden due to having less energy efficient homes.” Brionté McCorkle, Georgia Conservation Voters: “Black voters in particular are concerned about where these data centers are going… and ultimately whether or not the data centers are going to make their bills go up.”
- Grist: Energy bills keep rising. These candidates in Georgia say they can help.
- “Amid frustration over rising energy bills, voters overwhelmingly ousted two Republican incumbents, sending Democrats to the five-member commission for the first time in 20 years… Very few governmental agencies have as much impact on peoples’ lives as the PSC.”
Rising costs drive votes
- Georgia voters have already shown that power bills mobilize voters. In last year’s Public Service Commission elections, decided on utility costs, voters threw out two Republican incumbents by roughly 25 points.
- In battleground districts, energy costs are two of voters’ top three issues: gas prices (46%) and utilities (37%), behind only groceries (68%), according to new Hart Research polling. Six in 10 voters say Trump is making energy prices worse, and 54% say the same of Republicans in Congress.
- Undecided voters strongly oppose Trump’s attacks on clean energy: 81% oppose canceling grants meant to lower utility bills by bringing clean energy to rural communities, and 88% oppose using $4 billion in taxpayer money to cancel wind projects.
Behind the money
- Trump has made as much as $21 million from his oil and gas investments since the start of the Iran war, bragging about the money these companies are making as Georgians pay the price at the pump.
- [SENATE] Collins talks about “energy independence,” but he has taken more than $130,000 from the oil and gas industry over his career. He has voted seven times in support of Trump’s war in Iran and twice refused on the debate stage to commit to repealing the data center tax breaks he voted for in the 2025 budget bill.
- [GOV] Rick Jackson is a Big Oil investor who, when asked about soaring gas prices, bragged about owning an oil refinery. He has admitted to profiting from Trump’s tariffs and praised the 2025 budget bill for cutting his own taxes by 40%, the same bill that gutted Georgia clean energy. He also opposes a statewide pause on data center growth.
- [PSC] Republicans on the PSC have raised rates six times in the last 3 years while Georgia Power’s parent company, Southern Company, reported $2.8 billion in earnings in the first six months of this year. Nearly 25 cents of every dollar Georgians pay on their power bill goes to Georgia Power shareholders.
- [PSC D3] Nearly 70% of Fitz Johnson’s large contributions, $199,900, came from people and companies connected to the corporations he would regulate. As a commissioner, Johnson voted for Georgia Power bill increases and its multibillion-dollar expansion to serve data centers.
- [PSC D5] Nearly 40% of Tolbert’s large contributions come directly from companies and people connected to the corporations he would regulate. A dark money group funded by a family trust tied to coal mining has spent nearly $50,000 to get him elected. Tolbert called himself “pro-data center” on his campaign website until July, then quietly changed it.
Available voices for interviews
- Brionté McCorkle, Executive Director of Georgia Conservation Voters
- Mark McLaurin, Georgia State Director for Climate Power
Trump promised to cut energy costs in half. Instead, he and Georgia Republicans gutted clean energy investment and tilted the playing field toward expensive oil and gas, just as demand is exploding from data centers. Georgians are paying the price, and they’ve had enough of politicians enriching themselves and their donors while families struggle to afford their energy bills.
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