Make no mistake.
I am appreciative of Georgia Power, especially when I flip a switch and there’s light, air conditioning and heat. And when disasters strike, their folks—wearing hard hats and driving those big trucks—are quick to respond. They risk their lives to make ours better.
I am appreciative of Georgia Power, especially when I flip a switch and there’s light, air conditioning and heat. And when disasters strike, their folks—wearing hard hats and driving those big trucks—are quick to respond. They risk their lives to make ours better.
Going back as far as I can remember, some
of the best civic leaders our community has ever known worked for Georgia
Power. Bob Shaw, Rick Thomas, G.A. Nasworthy, Mike Garrett and James Griffin—just
to name a few—proved the utility company really meant: “A Citizen Wherever We
Serve.” Travel anywhere in the state,
and you can hear similar testimonies.
The jobs-creating behemoth is an
irreplaceable cog in our state’s economic engine. With its more-or-less bottomless pockets and
an army of lobbyists, Georgia Power has the clout to make things happen or not happen. That’s mostly a good thing.
I
wish this story stopped there, but it doesn’t.
Georgia Power wants the public to see its
shiny, feel-good public image. What it would like for us to overlook is the
giant’s underbelly coated with millions of tons of toxic coal ash. And it doesn’t take a modern-day Sherlock
Holmes to discover how effectively the utility company puts the squeeze on the
Gold Dome. The governor, the lieutenant
governor, and many members of both the General Assembly and the Public Service
Commission are quick to kowtow to Georgia Power’s wishes. In return, just like electricity, campaign
contributions flow.
What’s happened in the past three sessions
of the General Assembly makes it obvious—Georgia Power enjoys a nearly
untouchable sacred-cow status. Since the
controversy over toxic coal ash erupted, several state representatives and
senators have tried to get better environmental and public-notice laws passed.
If it weren’t serious, it’d be comical to
watch the backroom pressure to water down, gut or outright kill measures
designed to protect 10 million Georgians.
One longtime political observer has labeled the House’s natural
resources committee “The Georgia Power Fan Club.” Again, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes
to detect that nothing gets out of that body without Georgia Power’s stamp of
approval.
Consider these 2018 examples:
§ Glynn
County’s Rep. Jeff Jones introduced House Bill 879. He thought people ought to know when water
from toxic coal-ash ponds—after being treated—is about to be dumped into the
state’s waterways. A diluted version of
the bill passed in the House, but it died in the Senate. And who has dozens of toxic coal-ash ponds in
our state? Georgia Power.
§ Rep.
Jones also introduced House Bill 880 to establish more strict regulations for
landfills which could accept toxic coal ash.
The House natural resources and environment committee, chaired by Jesup
native Rep. Lynn Ratigan Smith of Newnan, promptly put that measure in the
round file. Who benefits from that? You
know the answer: landfill operators and Georgia
Power.
§ The
General Assembly did pass a bill to increase the minimum landfill host fee from
$1 per ton to $2.50 per ton in 2019.
Guess what got excluded from an
increase until 2025? That’s right, toxic
coal ash. And who has millions of tons of toxic
coal ash that needs to be dumped somewhere?
That’s right, Georgia Power.
Make no
mistake.
I appreciate
the good Georgia Power does.
Besides, our
state needs Georgia Power.
But what
Georgia also needs is for the company’s corporate honchos to loosen their
political grip on
the Gold Dome and live up to its
motto: “A Citizen Wherever We Serve.”
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
