Election Day is almost here, and while the White House and Congress aren’t up for grabs this time around, energy issues are on the ballot in several major races. Here are five elections where rising power bills, offshore wind, data centers, and the future of clean energy are all on the line.
Georgia Public Service Commission
Every state has an obscure regulatory body that oversees for-profit electric utilities, including their requests to raise rates and build new energy projects. In Georgia, it’s called the Public Service Commission, and unlike in most states, voters get to decide who’s on it.
Georgia’s current five utility commissioners — all Republicans — have been in power beyond their elected terms because lawsuits have delayed elections. On Tuesday, two of those commissioners will finally face voters.
In one race, Republican incumbent Tim Echols faces a challenge from Democrat Alicia Johnson. Echols calls for more nuclear power and battery storage and has touted his support for solar. Johnson wants more solar power and battery storage, including rooftop solar and other distributed energy resources, but is less bullish on nuclear.
In the other PSC race, Democrat Peter Hubbard is looking to unseat Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson (no relation to Alicia Johnson). Hubbard, an energy modeler, has a long track record of challenging the PSC, and told Canary Media’s Jeff St. John he’d push for more solar and less gas if elected. Johnson didn’t respond to Canary’s requests for comment, but has called this election a contest of “affordable, reliable energy vs. costly climate mandates.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill is facing off against Republican former state legislator Jack Ciattarelli to lead New Jersey — and energy affordability has become a key issue. The state saw one of the country’s biggest electricity rate increases over the last year, and Sherrill has promised to build more clean energy generation to address the problem.
Ciattarelli, meanwhile, has blamed New Jersey’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for rising power prices. He’s also not a fan of offshore wind — just take a look at the koozies his campaign store is selling.
Rising power bills are also a hot topic in Virginia, where Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is facing Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the governor’s race.
Virginia is already known as the data-center capital of the world, and continued development could drive up power demand even further. Spanberger has called for exploring energy-efficiency programs and virtual power plants as potential solutions, and supports solar, offshore wind, and nuclear development to meet demand. Earle-Sears is more critical of solar and wind power, but is a strong supporter of small nuclear reactors.
New York City mayor
There’s a three-way race underway to lead New York City, where Democrat Zohran Mamdani is polling ahead of independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
The future mayor will have a lot of say in implementation of the city’s landmark law requiring cuts in climate emissions from buildings, and Mamdani has promised to strictly enforce the measure. Mamdani has also woven climate action into his plans to make the city more affordable, including by turning dozens of schools into renewables-equipped resilience hubs.