The Secret Heroes Racing to Stop the MAGA Energy Death Star
October 22, 2025
A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away [DOT DOT DOT DOT]
TL;DR
How Star Wars can help us understand why the Georgia Public Service Commission Election matters.
What?
As a general rule, if you're thinking about your power company, something is wrong. Your bill has gone up, the power has gone out, or something nearby is on fire.
In an ideal world, the lights stay on, nothing explodes, and you never have to think about the little bit of money autodrafted from your bank account every month.
But, we are not in an ideal world. You may have noticed.
And so we must think about the power company. I'm sorry.
We must think, in particular, about a bellwether purple state's monopoly utility company, Georgia Power, because it has been using your desire to never think about utilities as a shield to cover up its planet-and-paycheck-destroying swindle.
Georgia Power has been aided and abetted in this planet-and-paycheck-destroying swindle by the Georgia Public Service Commission, a body of five elected officials who set electricity rates, approve plant construction, and decide how much profit the monopoly utility can earn. (Read more about the PSC elections)
So What?
Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't go! That last sentence almost lost you. I know. Just give me just a minute to try something to hold your attention.
I used to do this when the wonks at Greenpeace would insist millions of people would rally to the flag of [XXXX] if only a comms person would convince the world's largest media platforms to allow them to list the relevant facts on air.
But, I would say, this stuff is awfully boring.
LIFE on EARTH, they would shoot back, is BORING?!?!
(SILENCE)
Anyways!
The Star Wars Crawl is the scrolling 500 character text that set the scene for the epic Hero's Journey through the arcane George Lucas universe of wookies, huts, fetts, and darths for millions of people back in 1977.
The crawl created a "frame story," similar to how ancient epics like The Iliad began by situating the hero's tale within a larger war. It establishes the setting, conflict, characters, and stakes before the more specific, personal journey begins.
Here's our Star Wars Crawl:
"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...."
It's an incredibly condensed but comprehensible 83 words that situates us in space (setting) where the good rebel princess and the evil Galactic empire (characters) are at war (conflict). Why? Well, for just ONE example, the evil empire wants to show off its planet-destroying weapon by killing the Princess's people (stakes).
The crawl turned a wonky wookie world into Intellectual Property with emotional stakes that, over the course of forty years, earned billions.
Frame delivered, we're off on our journey. Pew Pew.
Can the same epic introductory format that worked for the High Stakes Universe of the Galactic Empire also work for the rinky dink wonk world of the Georgia Public Service Commission?
Can we create an epic PSC Crawl?
Let's find out.
SETTING: "It is a period of civil war…"
Ok. First one is easy. Things are not great in America, and the state of Georgia has become a premier battleground in this cinematic universe.
After decades of Republican electoral dominance, Joe Biden won the state in 2020 (fact!), and Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff both won Senate seats, tipping the balance of power in Congress for two years.
Still, no Democrat has won a nonfederal statewide office in Georgia since 2006.
In this off-year election, voters will decide who will fill two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, a five-member body that regulates how much the state's monopoly utility company, Georgia Power, can charge its 2.8 million direct customers, how much it can earn in profit, and whether or not it should keep coal plants running, build more natural gas infrastructure, or expand solar power.
The current PSC, made up of five Republicans, has raised rates on customers six times in the past two years. Since 2023, the average Georgia Power customer has seen their bill rise $43 a month, an increase of roughly $516 per year, while Georgia Power earned $2.5 billion in profits in 2024 alone. More on that soon.
If Democrats win one or both PSC seats, it would break the statewide election drought and could energize fundraising and candidate recruitment heading into 2026, when Jon Ossoff faces reelection, chipping away at Trump's power trifecta.
It's a big deal.
The Georgia Conservation Voters Action Fund announced it would spend more than $2.2 million supporting Democrats — an extraordinary sum for races that typically cost less than $500,000.
Republicans have also recognized it's a big deal. Governor Brian Kemp has devoted resources from his political operation to hold rallies and run ads, and the Republican candidates have gone full MAGA to turn people out: At a rally earlier this month, the Republican candidate, Tim Echols, called his opponent, Dr. Alicia Johnson, a Black woman, a "DEI specialist" who "wants to bring DEI and wokeness to the PSC."
CHARACTERS: "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire."
Democrat Dr. Alicia Johnson is a health care consultant focused on equity and affordability. She's running against Republican incumbent Tim Echols, who has sat unopposed on the commission's District 2 seat since 2011.
In District 3, Democrat Peter Hubbard, who has 15 years of experience in the energy industry, is running against Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson, who was appointed by Kemp in 2021 and has never faced voters before.
Echols has received 61% of his campaign funding from sources connected to the utilities the PSC is supposed to regulate, including $6,750 from Georgia Power and Southern Company employees, as well as $18,750 from the law firm that represents Georgia Power at the PSC.
For his part, Fitz Johnson has received 87% of his funding from similar sources, including utility-connected donors and employees.
By contrast, Johnson and Hubbard have raised only a fraction of their opponents' totals and have received little or no money from regulated entities, though they do have a growing amount of grassroots support from groups like Lead Locally and Third Act.
CONFLICT: "During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet…"
While Georgia Power customers have been paying more and more every month for the past few years, Southern Company, Georgia Power's parent, reported $4.4 billion in earnings for 2024, up $400 million from in 2023.
As noted, Georgia Power itself made $2.5 billion in profit in 2024, an increase of $730 million since residential rates went up in 2022.
In addition to paying for lavish CEO salaries, Georgia Power customers have also been paying on average $9 more a month because of Georgia Power's epic bungling of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. The PSC voted to pass on the Vogtle overrun costs to customers, despite the fact that the PSC's own staff testified the project's enormous cost overruns eliminated any economic benefits for ratepayers, who would have been better served by natural gas plants in the short term and clean energy like wind and solar in the long term.
The Republican-controlled commission repeatedly voted to continue the Plant Vogtle project, even after the contractor, Westinghouse, went bankrupt in 2017.
Georgia Power has also been raising rates on customers because it projects that electricity demand could triple over the next decade, driven largely by data centers for artificial intelligence, like the one in Newton County.
The company is seeking approval from the PSC to add 10,000 megawatts of capacity — roughly equivalent to 10 nuclear reactors — with nearly 60% coming from natural gas plants. But, under cross-examination during hearings this week, Georgia Power admitted it has not actually signed any new large-load data centers as customers this year. If the projected demand doesn't materialize, existing customers will be left paying for more unnecessary, dirty infrastructure that locks us into more fossil fuels instead of clean energy for the future.
Echols and Fitz have rubber-stamped all of this, and, for five years, they haven't had to reckon with voters because the regularly-scheduled PSC elections have been delayed, for good and bad reasons.
In August 2022, a federal judge ruled that Georgia's system for electing PSC commissioners violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting power. Despite Black residents making up 30% of Georgia's population, there have been only two Black PSC commissioners in the agency's 143-year history. Both were appointed by governors, never elected.
And while commissioners are only supposed to serve six-year terms, the last PSC election was held in 2020, allowing commissioners to serve years beyond their original six-year terms and approve controversial projects like Vogtle and rate hikes without having to explain themselves to voters.
In January 2025, the legal wrangling ended, finally clearing the way for this year's vote.
THE STAKES: "Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...."
This race matters beyond just monthly utility bills. The outcome will shape Georgia's energy policy for years to come.
The PSC is expected to make major decisions in coming months on Georgia Power's long-term energy plans, including whether to approve new natural gas plants to serve potential data centers, whether to keep coal plants running beyond their planned retirement dates, whether or not to expand solar power, and how much the company can charge for all of it.
For voters, the choice comes down to a fundamental question: Who should benefit from Georgia's energy system — ratepayers struggling with rising bills, or the monopoly utility that has consistently increased profits even as costs soared?
CUE THE MUSIC!
"It is a period of civil war. People are suffering while The Power Company gets rich destroying the galaxy. Rebel forces, organizing around an obscure election, have a chance to win their first victory against the evil Power Company. While the Company's minions worked behind the scenes to control the future of the galaxy, these rebel spies uncovered the Power Company's secret plans to use its unchecked power to destroy the planet. Now, pursued by sinister agents, rebel heroes Peter Hubbard and Dr. Alicia Johnson are racing to stop The Power Company, save the people, and restore freedom to the galaxy...."
Now What?
Now it's time for you to enter the story.
Vote. Early voting is underway. Find your polling place and cast your ballot for Dr. Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard.
Donate. Support the campaigns: Alicia for Georgia | Peter for Georgia
Organize. Join grassroots efforts through Lead Locally and Third Act.
Pew Pew.
Further Reading
Campaign Information:
• Alicia for Georgia PSC
• Peter Hubbard for Georgia PSC
• Meet the PSC Candidates - The Current
News Coverage:
• Democrats seek utility regulator election wins - WRDW
• Georgia Power customers see higher bills as parent company reports profits - Atlanta News First
• Federal court rules PSC elections violate Voting Rights Act - Georgia Conservation Voters
• Georgia PSC elections 'dilute' Black votes - FOX 5 Atlanta
Policy Analysis:
• Georgia PIRG statement on unreasonably high rates
• Quick guide to Georgia's 2025 PSC elections - Grist
*NB: All typos in this email are NSPM-7 compliant.
