Georgia PSC rejects delay request, outgoing commissioners will rule on Georgia Power expansion

The current members of the Public Service Commission decided Friday that they would not delay their decision on a historic request from Georgia Power. 

The Sierra Club and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy filed a motion on Wednesday, Nov. 12, to delay the hearing until the newly elected commissioners could take their seats. However, the PSC denied the motion.

This means that the commission will make its final decision on Dec. 19 as planned, and the new commissioners Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard will not be able to participate. They will not take their seats until Jan. 1.

Isabella Ariza, staff attorney for the Sierra Club, said PSC chairman Jason Shaw informed them that the commission denied their motion. Shaw cited the Sierra Club’s pledge not to delay the hearings as a reason for denying the motion and said changing commissioners at this point is not conducive to good decision-making, Ariza said.

“We respectfully disagree with that, and we think that a 30-day extension for the hearing and deadlines in this case is nothing compared to the 45 years that the gas plants that Georgia Power is seeking to certify will remain online,” she said.

The hearing involves a request from Georgia Power to add 10,000 megawatts of new power resources over the next five years, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The hearings will start Dec. 10, and the commission will rule on their request Dec. 19.

The environmental groups argued that the size and scale of Georgia Power’s request were unprecedented and the recent election represented a rejection of the current PSC’s practices, according to a news release.

Dr. Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said the new commissioners have a right to vote on this decision.

“When the voters finally got a chance to voice their opinion, they overwhelmingly voted for change,” he said. “It is tone-deaf and irresponsible for the commission to rush this decision through.”

Smith said the commission has until March to make its decision regarding Georgia Power’s request. 

“I think this is an issue about whether the commission is going to be looking out for the interests of the consumers that they are in charge of protecting and holding the company accountable,” he said.

The public is invited to submit comments regarding Georgia Power’s expansion on the PSC’s website.