Ask the average person who controls America’s energy policy, and the answer you’ll likely receive is “the federal government.” Federal bureaucrats would love that to be so because they could then force their green mandates, green energy scams, and one-size-fits-all edicts onto the fifty states. However, that’s not true. Under our federalist system, energy and environmental regulation, like most bureaucracies, are shared responsibilities between federal and state governments. The EPA and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission set national standards and oversee interstate programs. But states retain authority over their own power generation, energy resource planning, and power station permitting decisions.
It’s that “state authority” over energy as to why California, since 2000, has had rolling black-outs and brown-outs; and other states, including California, have high energy costs. Before moving to central Georgia, the Army stationed me in CA, and I witnessed this first hand. California has “rotating power outages” because of inadequate power generation. As most states do, California gets power from multiple sources including nuclear, hydro, coal, gas, wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulates “privately owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger transportation companies” – in other words, all utilities.
Beginning in the 1970s, California’s enviro-wackos decided that nuclear, coal, and hydro were bad because of nuclear waste, air pollution (coal), and salmon couldn’t swim upstream (hydro). So, as Marxists (the Democrat party) seized control of the state, they have systematically forced-shut all power-plants they didn’t like, beginning with nuclear. Today, of the five nuclear power plants that CA once had, Diablo Canyon is the only one still operational; the others were forcibly closed. California once had dozens of coal-fired power plants. In 2025, they’re down to only one. As for hydro dams, over the past 30 years, CA has removed over 100 dams; most were small but some were large, further reducing power generation (and water storage).
So, over the decades, CA has forced power plants to close, while their population increased by over 15 million, creating an imbalance between power generation and consumption, requiring utility companies to purchase power from other states. Also, rising electrical demand per citizen will continue to increase, especially given the state’s goal of 60% electric vehicles by 2030, and 100% by 2045. Trying to compensate for lost energy sources and increased demand, generation from wind, solar, and other “renewable” sources has increased, but those energy sources are massively subsidized by taxpayers. Wind and solar are not economically viable, as stand-alone energy sources, without huge government support — meaning your taxes. They (wind and solar) only exist because of government subsidies, because they are not reliable or affordable sources of energy as are coal, natural gas, and nuclear. Warren Buffet noted that wind energy “is not feasible without tax credits,” which happen to benefit his Berkshire Hathaway company. As a result of California’s closed power plants and subsidized energy production, when not having brown-outs, the state has some of the highest energy costs in the country. Californians pay 30.6¢ per residential kilowatt hour, more than double Georgia’s 14.9¢ per kilowatt hour. There’s one-word to explain all this — Democrats — because they imposed radical and unsustainable energy policies.
Why should we energy consumers in Georgia (and across the country) care about California’s energy? Because every aspect of CA is controlled by Dems, to include energy. California’s PUC is the agency that imposes the regulations and implements the policies that have forced numerous power plants to close, mandated the green energy boondoggles, and caused high energy costs. However, the CPUC is not completely to blame. Equal blame goes to California voters who vote for Dems who pass idiotic energy legislation. Additionally, the governor appoints CPUC board members. And as radically Marxist as Newsom and Jerry Brown are/were, their appointees are Marxists on steroids. Also, as radical as California Democrats are, they’re not an outlier; Democrats are essentially exactly alike in behavior and ideology, no matter where they live. A Georgia Democrat thinks exactly like a California Democrat. The Dems’ “green radicalism” is shared nationwide by all Dems.
Georgia’s November 4th election could start us on the path to California insanity. While CA’s PUC members are appointed, in Georgia, our Public Service Commission (PSC) members are elected. The PSC is the Georgia agency that regulates telecommunications, electricity, and natural gas. It has five statewide elected commissioners who make decisions that affect every Georgian. Currently, all commissioners are Republican, but that could change. Two PSC seats are up for election. Commissioners are elected statewide, but must live in their district.
Dems want, and are fighting to take the PSC seats, so they can do to Georgia what they did to California. Think about what California’s PUC has done to that state’s utility companies, and realize that Dems would do the exact same should they ever gain control of Georgia’s PSC. Nuclear power plants would be shuttered, coal-fired plants (such as Plant Scherer in Monroe County) would be closed, all in favor of massive wind farms, and solar panels would gobble up thousands of acres of productive farmland.
The best way to prevent a similar California energy nightmare from happening, in Georgia, is to keep Dems off the PSC and keep Republicans in control. Don’t California our Georgia energy. On November 4th, vote for Tim Echols (Republican, District-2) and Fitz Johnson (Republican, District-3) for Georgia Public Services Commission and maintain sanity of Georgia’s energy policies.
Final Thought: Early voting for the election is underway and runs through Oct 31st. Too many things can happen on Election Day. Since early voting is the law, vote early.
Image generated by MagicStudio.