Candidates announce for PSC, Congress
Several candidates announced for posts in the Public Service Commission and 6th Congressional District this week.
A longtime consumer advocate in the energy industry is running for a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission.
Patty Durand, a Democrat from Peachtree Corners, announced Tuesday she will challenge incumbent Republican Commissioner Tim Echols next year in PSC District 2, which stretches across parts of eastern and Middle Georgia from Gwinnett County on the north and Macon on the south through Athens and the Lake Oconee region to just south of Augusta.
Durand owns a consulting business with a focus on consumer engagement and education in energy and technology. Before that she was president and CEO of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Durand has been an opponent of the planned nuclear expansion at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle since before the PSC approved the project a dozen years ago. Originally expected to cost about $14 billion, the project’s price tag has soared to nearly double that amount, according to estimates.
“That is an obscene amount of money for the amount of electricity (the plant) will produce and is nine times more expensive than other clean energy choices the commission could have made,” she said.
Durand also has criticized the PSC for not moving aggressively enough to develop renewable energy.
“Why is Georgia one of only 11 states with no renewable energy goals or climate plan?” she asked. “North Carolina produces 20% of its energy from renewable resources. Georgia can too.”
Echols was elected to the PSC in 2010 and reelected in 2016. The owner of an electric car, he has been an advocate for clean energy on the commission.
6th Congressional
District
Two people have announced a run for Congress in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in Atlanta’s northern suburbs.
Former state Rep. Meagan Hanson and Cobb County lawyer Jake Evans announced their runs this week.
Hanson, a Republican from Sandy Springs, served one term in the Georgia House of Representatives before losing her reelection bid in 2018. A lawyer by profession, she went on to serve as executive director of Georgians for Lawsuit Reform, a conservative legal activist group.
Hanson is seeking to unseat two-term U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Roswell, who flipped the seat from Republican control in 2018 for the first time in decades.
“With the direction the country is going, the America I had growing up will not be the same America my kids will live in. I’m not content to watch this nation’s promise slip away,” Hanson said Monday. “We need a congresswoman who will fight for Georgia’s families, not (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi’s liberal agenda. I’ll work every day to lower taxes, end out-of-control government spending and get America back on track.”
Eric Welsh, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former Coca-Cola executive, is also vying for the Republican nomination to oppose McBath next year. Welsh entered the race in May.
Evans, another Republican, recently stepped down as chairman of the state ethics commission to enter the primary contest to challenge McBath.
In his announcement, Evans described McBath as a single-issue candidate for her championing of gun control legislation. McBath became active in politics after losing her son to gun violence in 2012.
“The Northern Arc of metro Atlanta is a thriving, dynamic region that cares about education, public safety, national defense and fair trade,”
Evans said. “But we’re stuck with a member of Congress who only cares about one issue – taking away the Second Amendment rights of lawabiding Americans and leaving them defenseless against out-of-control crime. We need change, and I’m here to offer bold, conservative leadership.”
Deal endorses Black
for Senate
Former Gov. Nathan Deal endorsed Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black on Monday for the U.S. Senate.
“I’ve known Gary for over 20 years. We worked together for the entire time that I was governor,” said Deal, who served as Georgia’s chief executive from 2011 until the beginning of 2019. “He’s done a great job representing everyone in our state. That’s the kind of leadership we need in Washington.”
Black, elected agriculture commissioner in 2010, entered the race for the Republican nomination last month. The winner of next spring’s GOP primary will challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Several other Republicans with high name recognition are said to be thinking about running. However, they are waiting to see whether University of Georgia football icon Herschel Walker enters the contest.