In what looks like a concession that some sort of solar power requirement will be imposed on Georgia Power today, state Public Service member Stan Wise – an opponent of the movement – has offered a last-minute proposal that lays out more favorable terms for the state-supervised utility’s future relationships with solar providers:

Wise would cap independent solar ventures at 40 megawatts, except for a possible larger array at the site of the Plant Branch property in Putnam County:

Excluded from the 40 megawatt limit is any project proposed for the Plant Branch property, provided the Company gives its consent to such use of its property.   If any project proposed for the Plant Branch property involves a third-party using the property to develop the project, then the third-party shall pay market value for the use of the property and ratepayers shall receive the benefit of any difference between the book value and the market value of the property.

Read the rest of his proposal here. We don’t know how much support Wise’s pitch has on the five-member panel – but it’s certainly an indication of the way the wind is blowing this morning. Or where the sun is shining. Pick your metaphor.

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On Monday, much of Washington will be talking about former President George H.W. Bush’s trip to the White House with former first lady Barbara Bush.

The occasion is a celebration of a Bush family cause – volunteerism. But eyes in Georgia will be on Michelle Nunn, CEO of the Atlanta-based Points of Light, who remains mum on the topic of a potential run for U.S. Senate next year. She's likely to be right there in the camera frame with President Barack Obama and the Bush family.

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If Burrell Ellis is suspended as CEO of DeKalb County next week because of accusations of strong-arming vendors for campaign contributions, taking his place at the tip of the governmental pyramid will be County Commissioner Lee May.

So it is significant that May is the co-author, with colleague Elaine Boyer, of an article at Blogging While Blue, arguing for an end to DeKalb’s CEO system. A taste:

There is no question as to whether the CEO form of government has been a continual source of conflict over the last three decades. There is a reason no other county has adopted this form of government, simply put…it doesn’t work.

Ultimately, the nearly 700,000 residents who call DeKalb home will be the beneficiaries of a more civil, less divisive government. But to get there, we need everyone at the table as good faith partners to tackle this issue.

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Dalton Mayor David Pennington’s campaign suggested Nathan Deal’s fundraising totals were less than impressive when he announced a GOP challenge this week. The governor raised about $613,000 in the first six months of the year, and has roughly $1.1 million on hand as of June 30.

A look back through the records shows that Deal has the lowest amount of any incumbent governor readying a run for re-election since  Zell Miller in 1993. It should be noted that Miller didn’t decide whether he would run for re-election until the middle of that year.

Barnes had $6.45 million in the bank when he was preparing his ultimately unsuccessful re-election bid in July 2001, and Perdue had $6.6 million left in his bank account a year from the primaries.

Barnes and Perdue, though, had more incentive to raise funds against well-known challengers. Barnes was preparing for a campaign against a slew of Republican challengers, and Perdue knew he’d have to face either Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor or Secretary of State Cathy Cox.

Deal faces the very different landscape of a weakened Democratic Party and a crowded race for a GOP Senate nomination that’s sucking up some of the attention. Whether he can use Pennington’s entry into the race as an excuse to raise more money remains to be seen.

For what it’s worth, Pennington knows he won’t be able to match Deal blow-for-blow. But he’s said he’s willing to pump some of his personal bank account into the race.

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John Munford at the Fayette County Citizen has spotted some curious doings in his neck of the woods:

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate claims that former Fayette County Attorney Scott Bennett had official public records wiped from the hard drives of his county-issued computers in violation of the Georgia Open Records Act.

The case began in January as Fayette County Commission Chairman Steve Brown attempted to review documents on Bennett’s desktop computer after Bennett had finished his last day with the county. Brown has claimed that the computer wouldn’t even boot up and it was soon determined that the hard drive had been removed.

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With immigration reform languishing in the U.S. House, some Republican strategists have posited that the GOP can do very well in future national elections simply by doubling down on white voters. Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz is the co-author of an article posted on Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, saying this just ain’t gonna work. A taste:

This does not mean that a Republican candidate cannot win the presidency in 2016 or later. Given a sufficiently favorable political and economic environment, it certainly would be possible for a Republican presidential candidate to win the White House despite a growing nonwhite electorate, but this would require winning a much larger share of the white vote than any Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. And Reagan accomplished this feat in an era when the electorate was much less polarized and party loyalties were much weaker than they are today.