Readers write
Let’s put ‘public service’ back into the Georgia PSC
For the past 20 years, the Republican-controlled Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) has accommodated Georgia Power’s requests amid a rapidly accelerating environmental-climate change quandary.
For 20 years, the PSC hasn’t demonstrated much, if any, “public service.”
There were no consequences for Georgia Power’s boondoggle — the poorly managed, egregiously high cost overruns at Plant Vogtle. Did their shareholders pay for this? Nope. The PSC passed these costs along to Georgia Power consumers, while taking the power company’s lobbyist and law firm political donations.
Communities across Georgia and the U.S. are waking up to the uncontrolled growth and adverse consequences of unchecked, unregulated data centers — using eminent domain to take people’s homes for data centers or ginormous utility poles, increased water and electricity use, noise pollution, etc.
What has the PSC done to regulate data centers? Not much, and only when Georgians organized and pushed back hard. What has Georgia Power done? Created warm and fuzzy TV ads and postcards.
Tech billionaires are pushing data centers to make ever more money at the expense of “We the People” — and the Republican-controlled Georgia regulatory agency elected to serve the public has failed to do so.
The two Democratic PSC candidates, Sheila Edwards and Peter Hubbard, are pledged to put “public service” back into the commission. Vote!
KATHLEEN COLLOMB, DECATUR
Need to prepare for higher cost-of-living
Gas, groceries, and rent are top of mind for voters now.
We recently visited Norway, where 96% of all new cars registered in 2025 were electric. While electric cars used to be more expensive, they are not the most expensive cars now. Some truck owners pay $100 to fill their tanks. Ask electric car owners about gas prices. They don’t seem to care.
Parents express interest in helping kids with a down payment on a home to avoid rent. Regarding groceries, rent and car payments, parents and children might consider a heart-to-heart talk about getting education and training so their child can earn a livable income. Who counsels young people to get a degree in psychology or exercise science? Who will pay that person enough to buy gas, groceries, and rent?
Kennesaw State University awards roughly 2,000 degrees each year in the humanities and social sciences out of a total of 9,369 total degrees in 2025. That may not pay enough to live in the real world. The truth is, people must learn how to do something that others will pay for, so they can live a good life.
DANIEL F. KIRK, KENNESAW