GEORGIA: Alicia Johnson sworn in as first Black woman elected to Georgia Public Service Commission
Dr. Alicia Johnson was ceremonially sworn in this week as Georgia’s newest Public Service Commissioner, marking a historic milestone for the powerful body that regulates utilities across the state.
Johnson is the first Black woman elected to a partisan office statewide in Georgia. Multiple Black women have won nonpartisan elections to statewide courts after being appointed by governors.
Georgia’s Public Service Commission had been made up of five Republicans, and a three-member GOP majority will remain after Johnson and Hubbard take office. Johnson said she has met with two of those Republicans seeking ways to work together.
“I accept this responsibility fully aware that the decisions made in this room and in this role affects families’ monthly bills, their community health, their economic opportunity, and our shared future,” Johnson said.
Standing before family, supporters, and state officials, Johnson framed the moment as both symbolic and consequential, describing her oath of office as a commitment to integrity, accountability, and service to Georgians who rely on the commission’s decisions every day.”
You stand with me at the intersection of history and responsibility,” Johnson said in prepared remarks. “This oath connects me to a long arc of progress in Georgia — one shaped by citizens who dared and expanded the promise of democracy through courage, sacrifice, and persistence.”
Johnson, a Chatham County resident, officially takes office at midnight on December 31.
She becomes the first Democratic woman ever elected to the Georgia Public Service Commission, and one of the first Democrats to serve on the commission in roughly 25 years.
A historic first — and a heavy responsibility
Following the ceremony, Johnson acknowledged the weight of being “the first” on a commission with more than a century of history. “I think that anybody who does something for the first time has a — you know, it could be an overwhelming sense of responsibility,” Johnson told reporters.
“It’s a shame that a commission that has over a hundred-year history that I’m the first anything on it,” she said. “But I am deeply honored to be entrusted in this moment.”
Johnson said her immediate focus will be learning the commission’s internal processes while grounding herself in the responsibility voters placed in her.
“I have a strong sense of gratitude and a strong sense of responsibility,” she said. “I’m working to sit in this moment.”
Johnson and Peter Hubbard won blowout victories over incumbent Republicans Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson in November, becoming the first Democrats elected to a state-level statewide office in Georgia since 2006. Their wins were powered by public discontent over rising electricity bills and data center development.
Georgia’s Public Service Commission regulates the rates charged by Georgia Power Co. With 2.7 million customers, the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. is the state’s only private electrical utility.
Policy priorities: accessibility, consumers, and guardrails
Johnson outlined several early priorities, including improving 508 accessibility compliance for the commission’s website and materials, and creating a consumer advisory group for District 2, which includes coastal Georgia.
Energy affordability is also expected to be central to her tenure, particularly as Georgia families face rising utility costs and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state.
“I don’t want to pay for somebody else’s server farm,” Johnson said. “And I don’t think any Georgian wants to take on that cost.”
Johnson said she supports legislative and regulatory guardrails that would require data centers to pay for their own energy demand and invest in on-site curtailment, rather than shifting costs onto ratepayers.
Working across party lines
Although Republicans still hold a majority on the commission, Johnson emphasized that utility regulation should not be partisan.
“Good policy is not red policy or blue policy — it’s people-centered policy,” she said. “We’ve all taken the same oath” .
Johnson confirmed she has already met with or spoken to several current commissioners, including Chairman Jason Shaw, and said she looks forward to working collaboratively to make decisions “in the best interest of the people of Georgia.”
As she concluded the ceremony, Johnson underscored that the oath she took was not ceremonial alone — but a promise she intends to honor throughout her six-year term.
“This oath is more than a formal tradition,” she said. “It’s a promise to serve with integrity, independence, and justice.”
