Utility board takeover on Georgia Dems’ minds

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation.

Key points

• Expensive downsizing The Department of Interior paid $156 million for close to 1, 500 employees not to work, write Kevin Bogardus and Ian M.
• A regulatory Catch-22 The Trump administration's planned repeal of power plant climate rules has been stalled at the White House for months, writes Jean Chemnick.
• "The Public Service Commission is our top priority, " remarked Brionté McCorkle, executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters.
• During a recent Public Service Commission session, Hubbard called on the panel to object to a contract between Georgia Power, the state's largest utility, and OpenAI.
• Critical investigations Democrats are laying the groundwork for investigations into Trump's critical mineral spending spree, write Hannah Northey and James Bikales.

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation. Democrats are within spitting distance of overseeing Georgia's power bills.

Meanwhile, the party needs to flip just one more seat in November's election to gain a majority on the state's Republican-controlled utility regulatory board for the first time in decades – and climate activists see the race as a key opportunity.

"The Public Service Commission is our top priority, " remarked Brionté McCorkle, executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters. "And we're going to continue until the job is done, and for us, that is securing a pro-climate, pro-affordability majority on the Georgia Public Service Commission."

For context, the competitive election is the latest example of how sky-high power bills have turned a national spotlight on the once-obscure state regulators who decide how much customers pay for electricity and whether data centers pick up the tab for needed infrastructure.

While most state utility regulators are appointed by governors, voters elect them in 10 states. And this fall, voters will be able to choose 15 commissioners in nine states – all of which have Republican-controlled utility boards. Green groups see Georgia as a bellwether.

At this time last year, five Republican regulators created up the state's commission. A special election in 2025 ousted two Republican incumbents and installed Democratic candidates – Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard – for the first time in 20 years. The race, the only statewide election on the ballot, ultimately flipped 22 counties that President Donald Trump carried the year before. Democratic advocates say the shake-up has already created a difference.

During a recent Public Service Commission session, Hubbard called on the panel to object to a contract between Georgia Power, the state's largest utility, and OpenAI. Ultimately, Georgia Power voluntarily delayed the start date of its 25-year service agreement to supply OpenAI – the creator of ChatGPT – with power for a $20 billion project near Savannah.

"Any delay is a victory for us, " remarked Mark McLaurin, Georgia state director for the advocacy group Climate Power. "So the theme of the election is finish the job, it's about flipping that third seat."

Johnson is not up for reelection this fall, ensuring Democrats maintain at least one seat. Hubbard is running to keep his post, and a third seat, being vacated by Republican commissioner Tricia Pridmore, is now in play between Democratic candidate Shelia Edwards, Republican Josh Tolbert and Libertarian Thomas Blooming.

When the Public Service Commission seat was the only position on the ballot, democratic operators say the biggest obstacle may be down-ballot fatigue – an matter they didn't face in 2025. In November, voters will choose the governor and U.S. Senators, and if history is any guide, some may neglect to vote for candidates further down the ballot.

But advocates say power bill rates continue to energize voters, numerous of whom now understand how the utility regulatory panel shapes rates.

"The Public Service Commission had that moment last year, and I see all over the country a lot more momentum around engagement with the public utilities and regulators, " McCorkle remarked.

But Democrats don't have a monopoly on campaign promises to bring down power bills. Republican candidate Fitz Johnson, whom Hubbard ousted last year, is running to reclaim his seat. His new tagline? "Defending ratepayers. Delivering results."

It's Thursday – thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to.

As part of an effort to build out a domestic supply chain at present dominated by China, the Trump administration has doled out billions of dollars for mining and critical mineral processing firms. Democrats say the deals are rife with conflicts of interest, pointing to some firms' financial ties to Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Business leaders from Australia to Canada are considering whether major financial packages – often in return for giving the U.S. Administration an equity stake – are worth the feasible congressional scrutiny if Democrats win back control of Congress in the midterms.

"Some people are like, 'Great, I want that, I want equity, I'm going to take the deal.' Other people are saying, 'I don't want to be anywhere near the administration when the investigations come, '" remarked one defense industry lobbyist with mineral clients granted anonymity to speak freely.

Expensive downsizing The Department of Interior paid $156 million for close to 1, 500 employees not to work, write Kevin Bogardus and Ian M. Stevenson.

In practice, the details come in new records that POLITICO obtained regarding the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program. It paid employees not to work for months if they agreed to resign afterwards. As the records covered only the Office of the Secretary – not the department's multiple other agencies and bureaus, the figures capture only a small slice of Interior's spending on administrative leave in 2025.

Over a thousand employees who chose to leave were high on the civil service pay scale, from GS-12 through GS-15. Plenty of held titles such as contract specialist, grants management specialist and accountant.

For context, a regulatory Catch-22 The Trump administration's planned repeal of power plant climate rules has been stalled at the White House for months, writes Jean Chemnick.

Notably, the slowdown might be strategic. Releasing the repeal before Oct. 5 could complicate the the administration's argument in an upcoming Supreme Court climate case – namely, that the Clean Air Act deems the Environment Protection Agency as the nation's primary regulator of greenhouse gas emissions.

For context, the repeal, by contrast, argues the opposite: that the Clean Air Act gives EPA no role in controlling planet-warming emissions at all.

Lingering contrails: Research scientists, air traffic controllers and the British administration will test whether tweaks to transatlantic flight paths can reduce heat-trapping contrails.

Birdwatching: A new study finds that China's solar build-out is contributing to a decline in bird diversity. A showcase of some of our best subscriber content.

Republican Mike Rogers expressed backing Thursday for a "pause" on data center construction as he runs against a progressive Democrat for Michigan's open Senate seat.

Notably, the Energy Department has selected seven critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing projects to receive a combined $500 million in federal grant funding.

Solar firm executives and supporters are spending $1 million against the Senate campaign of hard-right Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, but Norman has been working to discredit the group by arguing it's part of the Washington liberal establishment. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

For now, utility board takeover on Georgia Dems' minds remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.