This guide is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising electricity bills to developing renewable energy.
Elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission have been canceled for the last two cycles because of a voting rights lawsuit challenging the way the elections are conducted, meaning three commissioners have continued to serve and vote on key issues without facing voters as originally scheduled. Two of those commissioners, Republicans Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson, are on the ballot this year.
[*[Learn more about why the PSC is so important to Georgia’s ene…
This guide is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising electricity bills to developing renewable energy.
Elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission have been canceled for the last two cycles because of a voting rights lawsuit challenging the way the elections are conducted, meaning three commissioners have continued to serve and vote on key issues without facing voters as originally scheduled. Two of those commissioners, Republicans Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson, are on the ballot this year.
[Learn more about why the PSC is so important to Georgia’s energy and climate policy]
When is the election?
The general election is on November 4.
Can I vote in this election?
All Georgia voters elect commissioners, meaning any registered voter in Georgia can vote for both seats on the ballot, regardless of where they live. Candidates for the commission have to live in designated districts. This election is for District 2, covering a swath of East Georgia including Augusta and Savannah, and District 3, covering the three metro Atlanta counties of Clayton, Dekalb, and Fulton.
Check your voter registration and find your polling place here. You must register 29 days before Election Day, which is Oct. 6, 2025.
Who is running?
District 2: Alicia Johnson is running against incumbent Tim Echols.
**Alicia Johnson:**The Democratic nominee has a background in advocacy, human services and healthcare and said her chief concern is high costs for Georgians living in poverty.
“Seniors, children, single moms and working families in our communities all across 159 counties in Georgia are having to make tough decisions like whether or not they buy prescriptions or pay their electricity bills,” she said, criticizing the repeated rate hikes and Georgia Power profits approved by the current commission.
Johnson said the commission should push the utility to invest more in clean energy, including what’s known as distributed energy – rooftop solar panels and community solar – as well as battery storage and microgrids to power new industries like data centers. She also weighed in on a proposal before the commission to temporarily freeze base power rates, which she called “a strategic move because of the special election.”
“We’re already paying some of the highest energy bills in the country,” Johnson said. “And so I see this as too little too late. We needed this kind of protection before.”
Tim Echols: The Republican incumbent is perhaps the most prominent current member of the commission, known for his radio show and public appearances across the state as well as his work at the PSC. Echols cited that as one reason voters should choose him.
“Folks have come to know me as that accessible commissioner, the commissioner doing all these educational events,” he said. “So if you want me to continue with my enthusiasm and all that I put into this job in creating this great environment that we have in Georgia that attracts so much business, that’s why you should keep me.”
He also cited his work to advance solar energy in Georgia and ensure the new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle were completed. The state has made enormous strides on utility-scale solar energy, ranking seventh in the nation, but lags behind on battery storage, something Echols wants to change. He also said the state needs more nuclear energy, to replace closing fossil fuel plants.
Echols also touted the proposed rate freeze, which he called a “win for consumers,” though the commission has not actually adopted it yet. But he had no doubt it would.
“It will pass,” Echols said. “I can guarantee you the five Republicans will freeze rates. That is going to happen.”
District 3: Peter Hubbard is running against incumbent Fitz Johnson.
**Peter Hubbard:**Hubbard became the Democratic nominee after winning a primary runoff in July. As the founder of Georgia Center for Energy Solutions, Hubbard has intervened in PSC proceedings since 2019 and said he’s now ready to bring that expertise to a seat on the commission. His focus, he said, is on lowering energy bills and pursuing different ways of meeting Georgia’s energy needs, including solar and batteries, programs that reduce demand, rooftop solar and sharing energy capacity with neighboring utilities.
“The current commissioners accept that face value, the plan that’s provided to them by Georgia Power Company,” Hubbard said. “I have criticisms of those plans.”
Hubbard said he’d prefer to be proactive as a commissioner, seeking out possible solutions and new programs, rather than reactive to the plans put forward by Georgia Power. He also said he’s frustrated by what he sees as a lack of response from the current commissioners to constituents’ concerns about affordability and climate change.
“I see a lack of accountability among the folks at the Public Service Commission towards those residential electricity ratepayers or customers, those hardworking Georgians,” Hubbard said. “I want them to allow them to have better representation.”
**Fitz Johnson:**The Republican incumbent declined to be interviewed in June. He was appointed to fill a vacancy on the commission in 2021, and the subsequent election for the remainder of his predecessor’s term was called off due to the voting rights lawsuit in 2022.
When he qualified for the race earlier this year, Johnson told WABE that the commission was “doing great work with the utilities across the state of Georgia” and called taking care of ratepayers his number one goal. He touted the new contract terms for large customers that the commission passed earlier this year as one example. Those terms are designed to protect ordinary residential and small business customers from the high costs of serving new data centers and other large power users, though some critics have questioned whether the provisions offer enough protection.
In addition to serving on the Georgia PSC, Johnson chairs a committee on natural gas planning for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Read more about the election and candidates on WABE.
More resources for understanding Georgia’s PSC
- Want clean energy? These are the overlooked elected officials who get to decide
- A glossary for energy and electricity policy in Georgia
- Decoding a Georgia Power bill