Attorneys: Georgia Violated State Constitution with HB-1312, Which Unilaterally Blocked
Public Service Commissioner Elections and Allowed Sitting Members to Rubberstamp Controversial Utility Bill Hikes, the Highest in State History.
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 17, 2024 – Georgia consumer groups filed a major lawsuit against the
State of Georgia in federal court, alleging Georgia lawmakers violated the state’s constitution by
unilaterally postponing Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) elections. According to the
lawsuit, the PSC election’s unlawful postponement allowed the sitting commission members to
rubberstamp the largest utility rate increases in Georgia history and grant utility companies the
authority to charge Georgians for cost-overruns and mishaps. The groups argue that the
charges may not have been passed onto consumers if elections were held as regularly
scheduled.
House Bill 1312, which Georgia legislators passed in April, delays the election of new PSC
members until at least 2025, giving multiple sitting PSC members an extra two years in office.
Georgia’s constitution requires that PSC terms shall be six years, and therefore cannot be
lengthened without a constitutional amendment. All PSC members have had their office terms
extended to eight years, and one nine years as a result.
The lawsuit, filed by Georgia based attorneys Bryan Sells and Lester Tate on behalf of plaintiffs
Georgia WAND and Georgia Conservation Voters, follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of
the plaintiffs’ petition for the court to review the 11th Circuit’s decision in Rose v Raffensperger.
Kimberly Scott, plaintiff and executive director of Georgia WAND, said: “The illegal
postponement of PSC elections in Georgia is an attack on our constitutional right to vote
and the state’s constitutional mandate to hold statewide elections within the time frame
governed by the law. This lawsuit will show that Georgia lawmakers have made de facto
regulatory decisions that are harmful to the state instead of adhering to our constitution.
Let the people vote!”
In May, the plaintiffs along with four other prominent Georgia consumer groups released a
report, Plant Vogtle: The True Cost of Nuclear Power in the United States. The analysis detailed
how the U.S. Department of Energy, Georgia Power, and the Georgia Public Service
Commission (PSC), conspired to force Georgians into purchasing the most expensive electricity
in the world, costing ratepayers $10,784 per kilowatt, compared to $900 to $1,500 per kilowatt
(KW) for wind or solar. Recent Georgia Power electricity bills have shown the bill increase to be
in the 30-40% range.
Additional Key findings in the May Vogtle report included:
• Plant Vogtle allowed Georgia Power to expand its rate base, the assets on which they
earn a guaranteed rate of return, by over $11 billion. Yet their share of Vogtle is 1,020
megawatts, making it the most expensive electricity in the world at $10,784/KW. Normal
(wind, solar, natural gas) generation prices range from $900 to $1500/KW.
• Vogtle Units 3 & 4 took 15 years to build and cost $36.8 billion, well over twice the
projected timeline and cost.
• Vogtle independent construction monitors documented that Georgia Power provided
materially false cost estimates for at least ten years, falsehoods used to justify
expanding Plant Vogtle. Similar false cost estimates sent South Carolina utility
executives to jail for that state’s failed nuclear plant, which started construction at the
same time as Plant Vogtle.
Patty Durand, consumer advocate, founder of Cool Planet Solutions and a recent candidate for
the Georgia PSC, said: “Again and again, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC)
was warned about the astronomical cost of the Vogtle reactors and the financial toll it
will bear on Georgians for decades to come. Commissioners repeatedly declined to
protect ratepayers from cost overruns and ignored PSC staff recommendations to cancel
the project. People went to prison for actions like this in South Carolina, yet we have had
no accountability for the same, and worse, behavior here. Instead, the state legislature
decided to shield current commissioners from facing voters by delaying PSC elections
indefinitely. This is clearly unconstitutional. This is un-American.”
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The lawsuit, injunction filing and an embeddable recording of the GA Lawsuit news event are
available at GAWAND.org.