Jim Powell fundraiser at Manuel’s
September 24, 2008 at 10:53 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsAt Manuel’s Tavern on Tuesday night, there were chicken wings, some hummus, lots of beer, and a roomful of residents who were tired of Georgia’s reputation as a coal-dependent embarrassment when it comes to energy. In other words, it was a typical night at Manuel’s. But on this night, the crowd was talking with someone who says he can change the state’s filthy energy ways.
Jim Powell, the Democratic nominee for the Georgia Public Service Commission — the quasi-judicial state agency that helps determine how much it costs to keep your lights turned on and your house toasty warm — was amongst nearly 50 well wishers at the Tuesday night fundraiser held in his honor at the political pub in Poncy-Highland.
Organized by some of the city’s leading environmental activists, the benefit was one of several scheduled around the state to give Powell, a former executive with the U.S. Department of Energy, a financial advantage over his well-financed opponent on Nov. 4, Bubba McDonald.
Powell, in contrast to McDonald, has pledged not to accept contributions from lawyers and lobbyists who represent the industries he’d regulate should he win the general election. (”How could I be objective and make decisions on your behalf — and my behalf — if I’m taking money from them?” he asks the crowd.) While a boon for his integrity, that promise has left Powell in a lurch when it comes to cash. He’s just now getting the chance to widely distribute yard signs. Television commercials, considered one of the best ways to reach voters in any race, may prove too costly, he says.
So what does a guy who wants to run for one of the state’s most powerful — yet misunderstood — agencies do?
(Photo courtesy Jim Powell for Georgia Public Service Commission)
Powell’s working a grassroots campaign while also fighting a back-and-forth residency challenge with Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. The jovial Georgia native readily admits the legal battle, which is scheduled to be heard and ultimately decided by the state Supreme Court, has helped get his name out, albeit at a princely sum of lawyers’ fees. But that’s not exactly the sole image he wants to present to voters who may be unfamiliar with his ideas and just what exactly the commission does in the first place.
“I intend to be a consumer advocate,” Powell says, adding that he was recently endorsed by Republican Commissioner Angela Speir, the incumbent who’s vacating the seat Powell’s fighting for and who is considered to be the most consumer-friendly member at the agency. “With the loss of the Consumer Utility Counsel, it’s going to be even more important to have a consumer advocate at the PSC.”
The Democratic nominee stresses that the state must put every possible fuel source on the table — wind, biomass, solar, natural gas, and sadly, coal — and diversify its energy portfolio. Keep in mind he’s not saying we need to build more coal plants — “Coal will be around for the rest of my lifetime and probably the rest of yours,” he says to me — but that utilities must look at cleaner ways to burn the fuel if necessary while also branching out into cleaner fuel sources. Powell says that nuclear power, while already in use in Georgia and a key component of each presidential nominee’s energy platforms, will be a very expensive and time-consuming approach to meeting the growing energy demands of Georgians. But that’s not to say it shouldn’t be considered. Of all the possible energy alternatives, Powell says, Georgia is best equipped to leverage its vast timber resources into a renewable and clean biomass solution.
Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall, the lone member to attend the fundraiser, told Powell he’d never had someone at the commission to contact about helping low-income and senior residents with high energy prices come winter. Powell told the councilmember that he’d work with other agencies and nonprofits to help bridge the gap, as well as look into weatherization programs so home energy bills could be kept low to begin with.
Powell’s a gregarious fellow and mixed through the crowd at Manuel’s like he was the overwhelmed host of an after-work mixer. His 35 years working on the state, regional and federal level with both Democrats and Republican, he says, makes him an ideal candidate to work with the all-Republican commission. (Were he elected, Powell would be the lone donkey on the dais.) He said he was “honored” with the turn out and was confident he would be successful in the Supreme Court case. But he knows he has an uphill battle when it comes to his opponent McDonald, who was referred to in this paper’s print edition years ago as “Georgia Power’s favorite bitch.” That wasn’t a deadline-induced desperation grasp for a phrase. There’s a reason why someone wrote that.
McDonald, who’s now running as “Lauren McDonald,” is a Democratic former state lawmaker who was appointed to the commission by then-Gov. Zell Miller. His term was characterized by a notoriously chummy relationship with the utilities he helped regulate. Now he’s running under a different name and whistling a different tune. (His website listed the candidate’s thoughts on the issues only after he was called out by the AJC’s Jay Bookman in a column.)
Which is another reason why it’s interesting to see Powell, who’s never run for elected office in his life, face off against McDonald. Powell, who’s enjoyed a busy consulting career after he retired from government work, says he’s running for office because he wants to make a difference. That sounds like a canned answer, but it seems honest.
“I don’t think I’ll ever retire retire ,” he says. “Georgia’s so behind the curve [in regards to energy]. I want to make a difference. There are things we can do.”
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