On Thursday, Alicia Johnson will change into the primary Black lady to carry statewide workplace in Georgia when she joins the state Public Service Fee.
Based on AP, Alicia Johnson was sworn in to the position on Monday throughout a ceremony within the fee chambers. Johnson referred to as her election a “historic milestone” through the ceremony. “You stand with me on the intersection of historical past and accountability. This oath connects me to an extended arc of progress in Georgia — one formed by residents who dared and expanded the promise of democracy by way of braveness, sacrifice, and persistence,” Johnson stated in ready remarks.
The affect of her election was not misplaced on Alicia Johnson throughout her swearing-in ceremony. “I believe that anyone who does one thing for the primary time has a — you understand it may very well be an awesome sense of accountability,” Johnson instructed reporters after the ceremony. “It’s a disgrace {that a} fee that has over a 100-year historical past, that I’m the primary something on it. However the actuality is, that’s who we’re.”
Based on CBS Information, the Georgia Public Service Fee regulates the charges charged by the Georgia Energy Co. With 2.7 million clients, the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. is Georgia’s solely personal electrical utility. Till the November election, the Georgia Public Service Fee was totally managed by Republicans. Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard received in landslide victories in opposition to Republican incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson. The 2 grew to become the primary Democrats to be elected to statewide workplace in practically 20 years.
Their victories have been largely pushed by discontent over rising utility costs, which have coincided with elevated improvement of AI information facilities in Georgia. “I settle for this accountability totally conscious that the choices made on this room and on this position impacts households’ month-to-month payments, their neighborhood well being, their financial alternative, and our shared future,” Johnson stated through the ceremony.
Johnson campaigned on making the fee’s web site compliant with 508 accessibility requirements and on making a shopper advisory group for District 2, which incorporates central Georgia. One among her most notable pledges is to pursue legislative and regulatory guardrails that guarantee information facilities are chargeable for the vitality they eat, quite than passing the fee on to ratepayers.
“I don’t need to pay for any person else’s server farm,” Johnson stated. “And I don’t suppose any Georgian needs to tackle that price.”
Whereas Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard beat the 2 Republican incumbents, Georgia’s Public Service Fee nonetheless has a three-person Republican majority. Regardless of that, Johnson says she believes utility insurance policies must be nonpartisan. “Good coverage just isn’t crimson coverage or blue coverage — it’s people-centered coverage,” Johnson instructed reporters. “We’ve all taken the identical oath.”
Whereas governors have appointed quite a few Black ladies to nonpartisan statewide positions, corresponding to judgeships, Johnson is the primary Black lady to be elected to a partisan statewide place. I want I may say I’m shocked by that truth, however as Alicia Johnson so eloquently put it, that’s who we’re.
SEE ALSO:
Black Voters Confirmed Up To Defend Themselves And Their Communities In 2025 Elections
2025 State And Native Elections Provide Voters A Likelihood At New Management
