Fresh Loaf

Georgia Public Service Commissioner Angela Speir, who opted not to run for another term on the state agency that regulates utilities and telecommunication in the state, will join consumer watchdog group Georgia Watch as its deputy director in January.

“I am honored to become the deputy director of Georgia Watch, our state’s leading consumer watchdog organization,” Speir said in a press release. “It has been a blessing to serve the people of Georgia on the Public Service Commission for the past six years. I worked hard to represent Georgians on the commission and I will continue to be a hardworking advocate for Georgians at Georgia Watch.”

Speir will also launch the group’s Consumer Energy program. She’ll serve as senior program director on that initiative.

According to a press release, the Consumer Energy program will:

analyze and develop positions on legislative and regulatory proposals that affect utility pricing, energy efficiency and renewable energy. The program will also work to raise awareness of the functions of the Public Service Commission (PSC), to increase public access to the PSC, and to encourage public involvement in important legislative and regulatory decisions that affect energy cost and availability.

During her six-year term, Speir has been heralded as a consumer advocate and a voice for Georgians. She was the first woman elected to the PSC. Her notable work includes banning private communications between commissioners and the industries they regulate.

“Ultimately, our goal with this newest Georgia Watch program is to establish a credible consumer voice in Georgia on energy cost, efficiency and conservation issues,” Georgia Watch Executive Director Allison Wall said. “There is no more knowledgeable and respected advocate to shape and direct this program than former PSC Commissioner Angela Speir.”

Speir’s spot on the commission will be filled by Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, the Democrat-turned-Republican she unseated in a surprising 2002 election. McDonald defeated Democratic opponent Jim Powell, a first-time political candidate who fought a residency challenge all the way to state Supreme Court, in the Dec. 2 runoff election.

UPDATE: The AJC’s Margaret Newkirk attended Speir’s final meeting as a commissioner and paints a really beautiful scene of the moment.

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Angela Speir, the Public Service Commissioner who’s stepping down after her current term ends and is widely considered an advocate for everyday Georgians, is endorsing Democratic candidate Jim Powell for her soon-to-be-open seat.

“In this time of skyrocketing energy costs and with the elimination of the Consumers Utility Counsel, it’s more important than ever to elect a good person to the Public Service Commission,” Speir said. “Jim Powell has my vote,  endorsement, and prayers for his success.”

Powell, a former official with the U.S. Dept. of Energy, has been fighting a back-and-forth residency battle with Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. Even after being booted from the ballot just days before the primary, he was granted a stay by a Fulton County Superior Court Judge and went on to garner 85 percent of the vote. The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case but has not yet set a date.

Speir, a Republican, urged voters to look past ideology and partisan affiliation  and vote for Powell in what many believe is going to be a top-down ballot. “Doing the right thing transcends political parties,” she said.

Speir also stressed a need for voters to be aware of the differences between Powell and his opponent in the race, Lauren “Bubba” McDonald. Speir unseated McDonald on the commission in 2002.

(more…)

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The Public Service Commission sounds like a nonprofit organization that pairs high school students with soup kitchens. In reality, it’s a five-member quasi-judicial state agency that plays a large role in not only how much you pay to keep your living room cool and your lights aglow, but what kind of energy generation a utility uses to make those modern conveniences possible. And at a time when energy prices are soaring and global warming continues to happen, it’s perhaps one of the most important elected offices in the state.

The PSC regulates most electric, telecommunications and natural gas rates in the state. They’re in a tricky spot. On one hand, you can’t put the pinch on customers and for the business. On the other, they can’t choke business. The biggest item on its agenda is an upcoming vote in March to determine whether customers should pay for a proposed expansion to Plant Vogtle, a nuclear plant near Augusta.

The commission has become notorious for being chummy with the utilities they’re supposed to regulate. Campaign contributions from lobbyists and lawyers who argue before them are commonplace. The commission also needs to learn the power of the “no.” Of the last five rate increases that were presented by Georgia Power to the PSC, all were approved. UPDATE: Bill Edge of the PSC chimes in and lets me know “Georgia Power’s proposed increases in 2004 and 2007 were cut by the Commission. In the 2001 rate case, the Commission actually cut Georgia Powers rates already in effect.” One of them was necessary to clean up plants, but man, it’d sure be a shame for those companies to pay for that out of pocket, wouldn’t it? In other words, it’s been business-as-usual.

I posed three questions to Angela Speir, a widely admired commissioner who is opting not to run for reelection, about the PSC’s role in Georgians’ lives and why July 15’s crop of candidates should be scrutinized. Here are her responses, along with a few endorsements for who she’d like to see join the commission. Note she doesn’t endorse Doug Everett, the incumbent with whom she’s served the last six years. (Click here to read CL’s analysis of all July 15 primary races.)Why is it important?

While few people realize it, the decisions of the PSC directly impact every resident of Georgia and every business in Georgia every single day. The Commission is charged with ensuring that Georgians have safe, reliable, and affordable utility service. One of the most important duties of the Commission is setting reasonable rates – for example, how much Georgia Power can charge for electricity and how much Atlanta Gas Light can charge for natural gas distribution. But, the Commission also determines things like whether Georgia should meet its energy needs through renewable energy or nuclear power, whether a natural gas marketer that defrauds consumers will be held accountable, and even whether the corroded leaky gas main down the street gets replaced.

Why should people care about who gets elected to serve on it?

Who you elect will directly impact your wallet! Over the last 5 years, the annual bill for a typical Georgia Power customer has increase from $843 to $1,119, and a majority of the Commissioners approved every penny of that increase. That’s a 34% increase! Some of those increases may have been unavoidable due to rising wholesale energy prices. But, much of it was unnecessary and unfair to consumers.

What should they look for?

Different Commissioners are going to make different decisions. Some will try to make balanced, fair decisions based on the evidence and based on what is best for Georgia. Others, frankly, will make politically motivated decisions based on backroom deals, gifts and campaign contributions. Voters should look for candidates who have honor, ethics and integrity – someone whose idea of public office is that of a dedicated public servant, not someone who looks at what they can get out of the office for personal gain. Looking at how a candidate runs his or her campaign, including who they accept money from, can tell you a lot about what kind of Commissioner they will be – will they enter office beholden only to the people? Or, will they enter office already beholden to utilities, lobbyists, or other special interests. For these reasons, Pam Davidson and Rick Collum have my vote and my support.

(Photo courtesy of the PSC)

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When Commissioner Angela Speir announced she would seek other opportunities after her term on the Public Service Commission ends and not seek re-election, it sent a sigh of chagrin throughout the public-interest community.

“I think we’re losing a good one when she steps away,” says Bill Bozarth of Common Cause, a nonprofit group that focuses on fairness and accountability in government practices and who recently recognized Speir for her work. “She shows what one who is elected to such a position can do, which is act as a buffer between a regulated body [like a utility] — a sanctioned monopoly, of sorts — and the well being of the state of Georgia.”

Her exit comes at a time when Commissioner Bobby Baker – another respected official on the five-member board – risks losing his seat because a sour-grapes opponent has challenged his residency status in a battle that’s now in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, whom Speir trumped in the 2002 election and is considered a champion for the status quo, is the lone candidate for her seat. She’ll endorse McDonald “when the devil puts on his overcoat,” she says. (Oddly enough, McDonald may be trying to separate himself from his “Bubba” past — on the Secretary of State’s online list of qualifying candidates, he’s listed merely as “W. Lauren McDonald.”)

“Some commissioners and some candidates view this job as a part-time job, or a part-time commitment to the people,” Speir says. “It should not be viewed as an opportunity to take advantage of the taxpaying public by not showing up for work, driving a state car and getting your gas paid for when you’re not on state business or traveling to junkets where commissioners are wined and dined, paid for by lobbyists with business before the commission” – referring to the recent reports that Commissioners Stan Wise and H. Doug Everett received trips and perks from the natural-gas lobby.

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