The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a case challenging how Georgia elects its powerful energy regulators, clearing the way for delayed Public Service Commission elections in the state to resume. The elections had previously been impugned by voting rights and clean energy advocates, who argued the existing system diluted Black votes. The case could affect future legal challenges based on the Voting Rights Act.
“The court has spoken,” Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the office of the Georgia Secretary of State, said in a statement. “We are on track to resume elections for the Public Service Commission in 2025.”
The advocates who sued said they’re considering how to proceed — the commission’s decisions, which include everything from energy rates and discounts to building new power plants, remain as important as ever, they told Grist and WABE.
“People are not able to pay rent, they’re not able to feed their families,” said James Woodall, a public policy associate at the Southern Center for Human Rights and one... Read more
