Reposted by Alander Rocha
As Georgia becomes a national leader in new data center construction, debate over how to regulate the booming industry has become a hot issue in the race for governor.
New from @alander.bsky.social. #gapol
georgiarecorder.com
Debate over data center growth in Georgia heats up race for governor • Georgia Recorder
Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson have contrasting visions for how to deal with data centers, but voters don’t seem entirely sold on either’s plan.
![Nancy Lubeck, a Twiggs County resident who called herself a lifelong Republican, said she voted last year for Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson, the two Democrats who flipped seats on the then all-Republican PSC, because she said she wants to see things done differently at the commission. She said she voted in the GOP primary last month but will likely vote for the Democratic candidates again in November.
Lubeck, who is fighting a proposed data center down the street from her home from being built, said she is concerned that despite a recent promise to marginally lower energy bills, the commission’s approval of a massive energy infrastructure buildout to largely serve data centers could end up raising bills in the future. For that reason, she said she will continue to vote for Democrats this November, hoping for a change of direction for the powerful utility commission.
“We are still going to vote Democrat for the Public Service Commission, [and] most likely Republican for everything else,” Lubeck said in an interview. “We’re still mad about them giving all those increases to Georgia Power, and we just feel that all those people need to be changed out and need to be led by another party, so maybe they’ll do something different to help us.”
Republicans now have a 3-2 majority on the commission, but Democrats are hoping to flip control of the panel this fall.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:alqdxbp33ceoyly2o46nvcrc/bafkreierqgooadnfenyaf3e6jdcqhknztoy6t6x5w52bdyvps4wx6sl2uu)
