Rivals on energy issues vie for votes

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Among those seeking your vote next week for a little-known statewide post are a lawyer frustrated by rising electric bills, an incumbent pushing for more reliance on solar energy and a county commissioner who wants to generate gas from leftovers like pecan shells.

Two of the five seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission are on Tuesday’s primary ballot. The PSC sets rates that effect many consumers’ monthly utility bills and influences what expansion projects utilities pursue.

That gives it power over the massive shift underway in Georgia’s energy generation, particularly reduced use of coal, increased reliance on natural gas, a multi-billion-dollar nuclear expansion at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle and a drive to increase the state’s harnessing of solar energy.

Two PSC incumbents — Doug Everett and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald — are running for re-election. But only McDonald has challengers. He has two rivals in the Republican primary: Hall County commissioner Craig Lutz and Lavonia attorney Doug Kidd. In November, the winner will face Democrat Daniel Blackman of Cumming, an environmental planning and policy consultant, and Aaron Gilmer, an auditor from Dawsonville on the Libertarian ticket.

Here’s more on candidates in the contested race:

Craig Lutz: A 46-year-old Flowery Branch resident, Lutz is a part-time commissioner in Hall County and sells insurance part time. He worked for AT&T, where he said he was a program manager until just before becoming a county commissioner. Lutz said he received electrical training in the Air Force.

Lutz accepted donations in his PSC race from companies and people offering to provide energy saving services to local governments, including Hall County. (Because the donors aren’t PSC regulated The county considered multi-million-dollar proposals by companies to improve energy and water efficiency in government buildings and refine gas from a county landfill for use in government vehicles. Lutz supported the contracts, but a majority of Hall commissioners didn’t, in part voicing concerns about costs, according to GainesvilleTimes.com.

Lutz said he and his wife filed for personal bankruptcy protection after he joined the county commission. But he said his record on the county commission shows he uses the public’s money “very, very wisely.”

Top issues:

— Georgia has a surplus of capacity to generate energy, he said, but it needs in-state options to produce fuel for those plants. He wants to promote private solutions to turn products such as pecan shells into gas that can be used in power plants.

— Lutz thinks the legislature should consider expanding uses of the universal access fund — a fee that appears on land-line phone bills. The money subsidizes rural phone service, but he said it also might be used to provide high-speed Internet connections in rural areas.

— He wants existing regulations evaluated to ensure they aren’t having unintended consequences.

Doug Kidd: He is a 33-year-old attorney in Lavonia in northeast Georgia, where he has a general practice. He said his only prior work involvement with PSC issues was representing a small town on extension of a pipeline.

Kidd said he ran for the PSC after seeing his Georgia Power bills rise each month and learning about repeated PSC approval of rate increases. “I decided that somebody should challenge at least one of the people on there, because it didn’t seem anyone was looking out for consumers.”

He also said he had been frustrated with PSC members who accepted dinners and outings from lobbyists. (Starting this year there is a $75 state limit on individual gifts and a ban on most free ballgame tickets. For years, PSC campaign donations are barred from regulated utilities, but that doesn’t restrict donations from executives, lobbyists or consultants.) Kidd said his campaign donations so far are only from friends and family.

Top issues:

— “I’d like to see a rate cut for Georgia Power… and make their rate of return in line with other utilities in the Southeast”

— Kidd said will propose barring PSC members from meeting with lobbyists anywhere outside of PSC offices.

— He also said he thinks the Legislature should allow Georgia residents to have solar companies finance and operate solar systems on their homes and sell surplus power.

Lauren "Bubba" McDonald: McDonald, 75, who lives in Clarkesville, was a Democratic state representative for two decades before being appointed to the PSC. He later lost the seat, then came back and won in 2008, this time as a Republican. He is part owner of two funeral homes in north Georgia.

He has been a notable proponent of expanded use of solar energy, pushing Georgia Power to put more solar in its long-term power mix. The AJC has reported on both the heavy giving his campaigns receive from companies tied to the energy industry and the dining and outings he receives from lobbyists.

He cites his support of nuclear power, expansion of solar energy and electricity rates in Georgia that remain below the national average. While he said Georgia Power has won rate increases in recent years, most of the rise was for costs associated with meeting tighter federal environmental rules.

Top issues:

— McDonald said he wants to complete the nuclear expansion underway at Plant Vogtle. “I think it is going to be a great benefit to the people of Georgia.”

— He said he wants to continue to develop renewable energy, including solar, waste-to-energy and wind.

— “I want to make sure the people of Georgia have affordable, clean reliable energy down the road,” he said.