GA candidates for governor and PSC call out Mamdani’s heat wave A/C suggestion
Two Republicans running for office in Georgia — one for the Public Service Commission, one for governor — and one recently elected member of Congress took to social media to differentiate themselves from a Democratic socialist, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on the use of air conditioning amid the holiday weekend heat wave.
Thursday afternoon Georgia and New York were sizzling in triple-digit temperatures. Parts of Georgia reached 112 degrees on the heat index, and New York City began bracing for heat index values of 106 in Central Park on July 3.
Mamdani recommended New Yorkers to maintain 78 degrees in their homes to keep a stable grid, he wrote on X July 2.
“The power grid is working overtime to keep us cool, set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using and unplug what you can,” he wrote. “The city is doings its part too: maintaining 78 degrees in our building, turning off lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same and power down non-essential equipment. A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand and get through the heat together. “
The 78-degree temperature is what Georgia Power recommends customers set their home thermostat on for efficiency, according to the utility’s 2020 fact sheet. That temperature is is also what the U.S. Department of Energy recommends on their website, however, multiple sources found the webpage that highlights this point was removed shortly after the Mamdani post over the holiday weekend according to USA Today.
In a similarly-styled post on X the following day, Fitz Johnson, a former Georgia Public Service Commissioner and current candidate for the District 3 seat, told Georgians to set the temperature to whatever makes them cool.
“The power grid is working overtime to keep us cool, set your AC to whatever makes you cool, and don’t worry about shutting off lights or unplugging electronics,” Johnson wrote. “Our state is doing its part too: holding large load users accountable, overseeing rate decreases, and doing it all without Georgians having to worry about a brown out. A stable grid means AC stays on at any temperature you want, and lights won’t go out when we experience extreme heat. “
His opponent and current commissioner Peter Hubbard, who beat Johnson by 26 percentage points last November, told the Ledger-Enquirer that Georgians do have to worry about large summer bills because of Johnson’s actions while in office and expanding energy that contributes to climate change and extreme heat waves.
“Johnson voted to increase electric rates 6 times during his appointment to the PSC, so Georgia does have to worry about large summer power bills.,” Hubbard wrote in an email to the L-E. “Just before leaving office, Fitz Johnson voted to expand fossil fuel power plants for data centers that will lead to even more extreme heat. Hardworking Georgians cannot afford more of Fitz Johnson’s rate hikes, and the hot air he is blowing about “overseeing rate decreases” is adding to the heat wave.”
The holiday weekend heatwave was made three to five times more likely in Georgia by human-cause climate change, which is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, according to Climate Central, a scientific research working group headquartered in New Jersey.
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Johnson’s role as a commissioner is to regulate companies like Georgia Power. He has no say in what customers can and can’t do. He beat his Republican primary opponent by less than 1% of the vote in May.
Communist, conservationist, conservative?
Mamdani’s thermostat recommendation also caught the attention of Georgia gubernatorial Republican candidate Rick Jackson.
Jackson, facing Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms for the governor’s office in November, said she would do the same in Georgia to “force” Georgians to set their thermostat at 78..
“If Mamdani does it in New York, you can bet Keisha would do it in Georgia,” Jackson wrote. “When I’m governor, we aren’t going to force Georgians to set their A/C to 78 in the middle of a heat wave.”
U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller, a Republican who won the congressional seat in northeast Georgia previously held by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, called Mamdani a communist.
“After reading this communist post, I will be cranking my A/C down to 64,” Fuller wrote on X. “America will never become Europe.”
This is an area of Georgia that experienced the highest temperatures this past weekend, surpassing 112 degrees in feels-like temperatures and nearly four times as likely from climate change., according to Climate Central.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 2:37 PM.
