US Supreme Court punts on 'problematic' voting system for Georgia energy regulators

“The court has spoken,” Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the office of the Georgia Secretary of State, said in a statement. “We are on track to resume elections for the Public Service Commission in 2025.”

The advocates who sued said they’re considering how to proceed, as the commission’s decisions, which include everything from energy rates and discounts to building new power plants, remain as important as ever, they told Grist and WABE.

“People are not able to pay rent; they’re not able to feed their families,” said James Woodall, a public policy associate at the Southern Center for Human Rights and one of the plaintiffs in the case. “So when I think about the decision, or lack thereof, to take on this case, I thought about those people.”

Each of Georgia’s Public Service Commissioners has to live in a specific district, but unlike members of Congress, they’re elected by statewide vote. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, all Black voters in Atlanta, argued that this system dilutes their votes and, therefore, violates the Voting Rights Act. 

While a federal judge agreed, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees Florida, Alabama and Georgia courts, overturned that decision. With the announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court will not consider the case, the 11th Circuit ruling will stand, leaving the system as-is.

Meanwhile, Public Service Commission, or PSC, elections in Georgia have been on hold since 2022, when the original judge issued a stay blocking any election until a new system could be devised — a decision the U.S. Supreme Court upheld.

Two elections were canceled that year, with those commissioners allowed to continue serving and voting; a third commissioner who was up for reelection this year will continue to serve without facing voters until elections resume.

“We have had these commissioners sitting in their seats pretty much unelected,” said Brionté McCorkle, another plaintiff, and the nonprofit Georgia Conservation Voters’ executive director. “They’re making incredibly important decisions that are impacting the lives of Georgians and also impacting the climate crisis.”

The five-member Public Service Commission has final approval over most steps taken by Georgia Power, the state’s largest electric utility. This includes how much the company charges for energy and how it makes that power. 

Since the cancellation of the 2022 elections, the commissioners have approved the construction of new natural gas turbines, as well as bill increases to cover natural gas costs and the construction of the newest nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle.

Next year, they’ll make important decisions about Georgia Power’s future energy plans, including possible expansions of renewable energy and closure of coal plants, and the next several years of power rates — all before Georgians have the chance to vote.

Under a state law passed this year, PSC elections would resume in 2025 with votes for two seats. The law lays out an election schedule for all five seats that would leave the current commissioners in power beyond their original six-year terms.

The plaintiffs are considering a challenge to that law, McCorkle said, though they’ve made no final decisions.

“We definitely feel like that is all very problematic,” she said of the law’s election schedule. “We’re gonna keep fighting for the people of Georgia.”

While McCorkle called the Supreme Court’s decision “a bummer,” she said she also felt “a little bit of relief” because there was no guarantee the high court would side with the plaintiffs.

Voting rights advocates are concerned about the implications of the 11th Circuit’s ruling, which didn’t weigh in on whether the plaintiffs had proven their votes were unfairly diluted. Instead, the appeals court argued a federal court can’t overrule the state’s choice to hold at-large elections because it would violate the “principles of federalism.”

“They endorsed the notion that the state has a vested interest in disenfranchising Black Georgians,” Woodall said. “For me, it is an endorsement that reflects over generations and generations of discrimination.”

Woodall, McCorkle and others said they plan to continue educating Georgians about the PSC, as well as holding commissioners accountable.

“We’re gonna make sure people know who you are and what you do and that they can call you, call the commissioners, and make sure their voices are heard and represented in the decisions that they’re making,” McCorkle said of the commissioners.