Who’s in the Georgia PSC primary runoff? ‘Energy future is on the ballot’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Georgia PSC runoff features Waites and Hubbard with divergent energy priorities
- Hubbard emphasizes energy expertise and reform, while Waites cites governance
- Both pledge lower rates and reliability, but differ on clean energy strategies
Two very different candidates are facing off in a runoff for the Democratic primary Tuesday in the hopes of unseating a Public Service Commissioner in November.
The runoff election between former state lawmaker Keisha Waites, and energy consultant and expert Peter Hubbard is being called a “critical moment” in “the most important” Georgia election this year.
Waites and Hubbard were the top two vote-getters in the primary last month, but didn’t secure more than 50% of the vote, so a runoff is required by Georgia law. Waites received 57,800 votes, Hubbard received 41,832 and Robert Jones received 25,898.
The Public Service Commission regulates telecom and energy companies. The five-member body is tasked with balancing the interests of the monopoly electric utility, Georgia Power, and its 2.7 million customers around the state.
That means reviewing massive energy plans, how the energy is sourced (coal, gas, solar, nuclear), how much is needed, and hearing what the cost or rate of utilities should be for customers.
This full-time job requires a leader who puts people and planet before utility profits, according to Brionté McCorkle, Georgia Conservation Voters’ executive director. GCV is a nonpartisan voter mobilization group that advocates for clean air, water and environmental justice through public policy.
“Georgia’s energy future is on the ballot this year,” she said in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer. “This PSC election is one of the most important climate votes Georgians will cast this year, and we may never have a better chance to demand clean, just, and affordable energy for all.”
How do Waites and Hubbard differ?
Georgia Conservation Voters endorsed Hubbard, calling him an “ideal candidate.”
“Peter’s understanding of how companies rig the game by hiding the devil in the details, like how Georgia Power’s modeling tends to be biased toward massive construction projects, where customers end up footing the bill, demonstrates the kind of strategic thinker that could benefit Georgians. GCV encourages everyone who cares about low bills and safe energy to use their vote to influence this critical election,” the endorsement said.
Hubbard has a nonprofit, the Georgia Center for Energy Solutions, which consults on electric utility Integrated Resource Plans and has testified on Georgia Power’s Integrated Resource Plans for six years, across four different plans from 2019 to 2025. In 2025, he created his own alternative IRP and brought it to the commission.
“I’m an expert in the subject matter,” he said. “You need an energy expert to be able to understand all the ways that that costs are being shifted onto residential rate payers and customers like me and you, and that’s what I bring is that 15 years of experience in the energy industry putting together power plants of what to build and retire, understanding the different mechanisms and ways that in a rate case you can shift costs.”
Hubbard added that he believes there is a lot of room for improvement at the PSC. The testimonies and comments from the public have fallen on deaf ears, he said.
Running for office is the “natural progression,” he said.
“If I want to see the change happen that I’ve been arguing for then, well, le’ts take a seat at the table,” Hubbard said. “I’m running to make it apparent that we are foregoing economic opportunity. We’re driving up our power bills. We’re not addressing climate change. All because we’re basically beholden to sort of the corporate interest rather than the public service interest.”
Meanwhile, Waites is a seasoned public servant, which she argues is what makes her the better candidate. She also has established relationships with sitting commissioners.
“I have nearly two decades of public service,” she said. “I spent 15 years serving with the federal government: 10 in the Department of Homeland Security, and another five years working for the SBA, writing disaster assistance loans for businesses and corporations.”
She served several years in the Georgia General Assembly, serving Clayton and Fulton counties from 2012 to 2017.
“Chairman Jason Shaw was a member of the Georgia General Assembly as I was, and Bubba McDonald served in the Georgia General Assembly,” she said.
“I served three terms serving on powerful committees such as public safety, transportation, interstate commerce, and I recently served on the Atlanta City Council where I served on finance, public safety and transportation. I’m the only candidate in this race that has actually authored any legislation, passed any bills.”
Both Waites and Hubbard want to lower rates and “get back to the original intent of the public service commission,” Waites said.
But Hubbard doesn’t think Waites can get up to speed on the complexities of Georgia’s electric grid and energy issues.
“I think Keisha Waites is going to have trouble,” he said. “She’s learning this stuff on the job. I’ve already been in front of the public service commission for the entire length of a term of a commissioner, six years. It’ll take her that long by the time she finishes, she’ll just be where I am today. So there’s a real gap in that expertise.”
Waites questions Hubbard’s efficacy.
“He indicates he has 15 years of policy experience, I don’t know what that is,” she said. “He said for six years he’s gone down and visited the PSC. Well, clearly he’s not effective because in the last two years our bills have doubled and tripled. So, I question his effectiveness.”
She also believes that energy expertise isn’t a prerequisite for the position, as sitting commissioners don’t have that background.
“Of the five members who are on the commission, none of them have an energy policy background,” she said. “The fact that I am constantly being drilled on the fact that, ‘You don’t have any energy policy,’ neither does Peter. I haven’t seen it.”
Who’s endorsing the candidates?
On Wednesday, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes lent his support for Hubbard by formally endorsing him.
According to his campaign website, Hubbard has also received endorsements from:
Former NAACP Atlanta President Richard Rose
State Sen. Nan Orrock - District 36 (Fulton County)
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts
Peach County Commissioner Shanita Wilkerson Howell
Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari
State Sen. Elena Parent - District 44 (DeKalb and Clayton counties)
State Rep. Saira Draper - District 90 (DeKalb County)
State Rep. Terry Cummings - District 39 (Cobb County)
Patty Durand, director of Georgians for Affordable Energy and former PSC candidate
Waites told the Ledger-Enquirer she has received endorsements from:
Former state Rep. Craig Gordon (Chatham County)
Former State Rep. Winford Dukes (Dougherty County)
Former State Rep. Dexter Sharper (Lowndes County)
State Sen. Gale Davenport (Clayton County)
College Park Councilmember Joe Carn
“As proud as I am to have several of my colleagues and several community leaders and pastors, it’s the voters’ endorsement that I am seeking this morning,” Waites said Wednesday to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Priorities between clean energy, affordability and reliability
When asked to rank how they prioritize clean energy, safety, reliability and affordability, both candidates said reliability ranked highly.
“Reliability is always number one,” Hubbard said. “ ... You have to keep the lights on. I would say a very close second is then affordability. If it gets too costly then people will look for alternatives and those are becoming increasingly cost-competitive as Georgia Power is raising its rates. Sustainability is incredibly important for me, and addressing climate change.”
Hubbard said if both reliability and affordability were addressed, the clean energy issue would take care of itself. He said adding solar and adding energy storage, plus sharing with neighboring states, Georgia could increase reliability and lower cost while also accounting for climate change.
Waites believes reliability is “paramount,” but also emphasized affordability.
“Affordable, I think, is going to be my number one priority,” she said. “The second priority that I think is important is safety. In metro Atlanta, we have some of the highest breathing air related illnesses and issues of anywhere in the area, right? The air that we breathe is going to be important and, you know, coal ash ponds, and not moving in the right direction as it relates to fossil fuels is not the right idea, which is one of the reasons that I support solar and wind.”
Hubbard plans to have a proactive approach rather than what he called the traditional “reactive” approach from the commission. He plans to propose alternative plans.
“One challenge with this Integrated Resource Plan is the decisions are either made ahead of time or made in secret,” he said. “I intend to be more proactive in the sense of putting out, as I already have, an alternative plan that shows no, if you use the right assumptions, you’re going to arrive at better conclusions for the customer without sacrificing reliability, driving down emissions, doing all the things we want to attract business to the state.”
Waites said she would have withheld support of the 2025 IRP because it lacks robust affordability and strategy, and would have advocated for net metering. Net metering is the policy that allows excess energy from rooftop solar on Georgia Power customers’ homes to be sold back onto the grid, and the homeowners reep the financial sale benefit. It was piloted in 2019 and never brought to fruition in the ‘22, ‘23 or ‘25 IRPs.
“The failure to expand net metering and the approval of fracked power purchase agreements were also concerning to me as it related to the 2022 IRP (as well),” she said.
She admitted, “I’m not an energy expert. What I am is an expert as it relates to taking on giants and bullies.”
Waites said she plans to support the nominee on Tuesday and it is her hope and prayer that her opponent will make the same pledge.
Importance of the PSC election
Daniel Blackman, former Public Service Commission candidate and former EPA official who was removed from the ballot before the June 17 election due to residency issues, told the Ledger-Enquirer the PSC is one of the most important and most overlooked elected bodies in our state.
“Sitting out this election is not an option,” he said. “November is coming, and the stakes could not be higher.”
Early voting runs until July 11 and election day is July 15. Residents who want to look up their voting location for early voting, which differs from your polling place on Election Day, can visit the Secretary of State’s Office website.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 3:44 PM.
