by Dave Williams | Sep 13, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The role private water systems can and should play in meeting the demands of Georgia’s growing population will be the focus of a legislative study committee that will begin meeting next week.
Private water systems became an issue earlier this year when the Republican-controlled General Assembly voted largely along party lines to allow private utilities to provide water in areas where no public service can be provided within 18 months.
Three Republicans from the Georgia coast introduced House Bill 1146 to clear the way for a private company to provide water to new homes being built in Bryan County for workers at the massive Hyundai electric-vehicle manufacturing plant under construction west of Savannah.
“If cities or counties can’t or won’t supply water to an area, if someone does have the capacity in a private system, they ought to be able to come in and supply water,” said state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, the bill’s chief sponsor.
The need for private water systems to step in where public water service is not available or – in some cases – is extremely expensive is being felt in other areas besides the Georgia coast.
Residents near Lake Oconee have complained about high water rates. In fact, Rep. Trey Rhodes, R-Greensboro, whose House district includes the Lake Oconee area, will serve as the study committee’s chairman.
Martha Revolo, associate director of governmental affairs for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), said private water systems are a particularly attractive option in fast-growing rural areas of Georgia, where population increase is outstripping public water supplies.
“We’re having a lot of housing issues … especially in rural areas,” she said. “We need the infrastructure, and it takes three to five years to have a fully implemented water plan for a county or region.”
However, the ACCG opposed Stephens’ bill because it allows private water systems to operate in an area without the approval of the local government.
“Bypassing local government was our No.-1 concern, setting a precedent for the rest of the state where industries could come in and say, ‘We don’t need local consent,’ ” Revolo said.
During the debate on the bill, legislative Democrats argued that letting private water systems start serving communities along or near the Georgia coast would hamstring local governments’ ability to manage limited water resources. Saltwater intrusion has long been a concern of officials in coastal counties.
“We’ve worked for years to try to keep the people of Savannah from having to drink salty water,” said Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, who voted against Stephens’ bill. “A private company could come in and drill a well and upset the apple cart.”
But Buckner said she welcomes the study committee as an opportunity to learn how many private water companies exist across Georgia and whether they have to abide by the same rules as public water utilities.
“If we’re going to be the No.-1 place to do business, we have to take care of our natural resources,” said Buckner, who will serve on the committee. “[Water] is a finite resource. We have to be very careful about it.”
by Dave Williams | Sep 13, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not appear before a state Senate committee Friday to testify about the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, defying a subpoena the panel issued last spring.
Willis has argued the subpoena is unlawful and has gone to court to block it.
Friday’s hearing was the sixth the Senate Special Committee on Investigations has held to look into a romantic relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case, and whether she misused taxpayer funds.
In Willis’ absence, the committee spent about 90 minutes hearing from two witnesses who testified the panel had the legal right to issue the subpoena and has the authority to compel the district attorney to testify if she refuses to appear voluntarily.
Legislative counsel Stuart Morelli cited state and federal court rulings asserting the authority of legislative bodies to conduct investigations and compel testimony.
“The investigative power has to be inherent to the legislative process,” Morelli said. “[Otherwise], you’re legislating in the dark.”
Former Secretary of the Senate David Cook delivered one caveat to the Senate’s power to enforce a subpoena. Cook said the law allows the legislature to find in contempt a subpoenaed witness who refuses to testify only while the General Assembly is in session. The legislature adjourned the 2024 session at the end of March.
However, Cook said the Senate can go to court to seek a declaratory judgment finding an uncooperative witness in contempt. Toward that end, the committee has hired a lawyer to pursue its subpoena of Willis in court.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted along party lines in January to form the committee after one of Trump’s co-defendants in the case filed a motion accusing Willis of being involved in an improper relationship with Wade. Trump later joined the motion, which sought to disqualify Willis from the case.
Willis argued the relationship did not constitute grounds for dismissing the indictment against Trump and others for participating in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Wade stepped down from the case in April after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could continue prosecuting Trump only if Wade discontinued his role as special prosecutor.
by Dave Williams | Sep 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Fulton County Superior Court judge Thursday dismissed three counts in District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference case against former President Donald Trump while leaving most of the counts intact.
Two of the dismissed counts were filed directly against Trump, while the other involved co-defendants Shawn Still, a Republican state senator, and Trump lawyer John Eastman.
Judge Scott McAfee declared that the state does not have the authority to prosecute the three counts because they involved accusations of filing false documents in federal court.
A Fulton grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others in August of last year racketeering for allegedly participating in a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry the Peach State by fewer than 12,000 votes.
The case has been on hold since the Georgia Court of Appeals declared in June it would not move forward until deciding whether Willis should be disqualified because of a prior romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case. Wade stepped away from the prosecution last April.
Thursday’s ruling pertained to allegations that Trump’s allies put together a slate of fake presidential electors in Georgia, which met at the state Capitol in December 2020 in an effort to award the state’s 16 electoral votes to Trump, despite recounts and court rulings that showed Biden was the winner.
McAfee ruled that the state lacked jurisdiction to prosecute the three counts he dismissed because a “mechanism of enforcement” was already in place at the federal level to prosecute defendants accused of making false statements under oath in court proceedings. A federal court must have the ability “to police its own proceedings,” he wrote.
The judge’s ruling means five of 13 counts originally lodged against Trump have been set aside. McAfee dismissed six other counts in the case last March, including three against the former president.
Among the charges thrown out then was a count charging Trump in a January 2021 phone call with urging Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 additional votes he needed to carry the state over Biden.
by Dave Williams | Sep 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia (USG) awarded a record 76,571 degrees during the last fiscal year, up 1.8% over fiscal 2023.
The number of degrees the system’s 26 institutions have awarded has risen by 39.6% since 2011, when the USG joined Complete College America, a program that prioritizes degree completion. During that same period, enrollment increased by 8.3%, meaning the rate of awarding degrees has far surpassed enrollment growth.
“USG and our 26 public colleges and universities take pride in making sure students complete their degrees, and today you’re seeing the impact of that work in communities across Georgia,” system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Thursday.
“We’re building momentum toward being the best public university system in the nation and continuing to help increase the state’s economic development and families’ long-term prosperity.”
The university system awarded 51,543 undergraduate degrees in fiscal 2024, a 1.6% increase over the previous fiscal year. Another 25,028 graduate and professional degrees awarded in the last fiscal year was up 2.1% over fiscal 2023.
Besides Complete College America, the university system more recently has undertaken other initiatives aimed at promoting higher education and degree completion. For example, Georgia Degrees Pay, a website launched in 2022, provides data on student success, college costs, affordability, and earning potential.
According to a recent study, USG graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree will earn over $1.4 million more during their lifetimes than they would have without their college degree. Graduate and professional degrees add to those average career earnings.
by Dave Williams | Sep 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Opponents of a proposal by Georgia Power to add more biomass to the utility’s electrical generating portfolio argued Thursday the plan is both unreliable and too expensive.
Georgia Power is seeking approval from the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to buy about 80 megawatts of electricity from three plants in South Georgia that burn wood chips from waste generated by logging operations.
Most of that power – 70 megawatts – would come through a 30-year power-purchasing agreement (PPA) with Altamaha Green Energy LLC, which operates a mill in Wayne County. Two other 10-year PPAs with International Paper Co. would produce the rest of the biomass from mills in Port Wentworth and Macon County.
The power the projects would generate would be far more expensive for Georgia Power customers than other alternatives, Aradhana Chandra, a lawyer for the Southern Environmental Law Center, told commissioners Thursday.
“If the Altamaha PPA is approved, customers will be paying for more than three times the value of energy they’re receiving,” said Chandra, whose firm represents Georgia Interfaith Power and Light in the case before the PSC.
But Robert Highsmith, a lawyer representing Georgia Power, said the projects’ benefits to the South Georgia economy would outweigh the costs. He noted that when the PSC ordered Georgia Power two years ago to pursue biomass as part of a diverse portfolio of energy supply sources, the commission specifically stated it wanted to create jobs in rural South Georgia by promoting the state’s forestry industry.
“Cost isn’t the only appropriate consideration here,” Highsmith said.
Commissioner Tim Echols said “slash” debris left over from logging operations would go to waste if it isn’t converted into biomass fuel.
“I know we’re paying more for this,” he said. “But without it, this stuff gets burned right there in those communities without the benefit of scrubbers or, worse, it rots on the ground.”
Commission Chairman Jason Shaw said 40% to 50% more trees are planted each year in Georgia than are harvested, yielding an oversupply that is depressing prices. A state Senate study committee has begun meeting to explore ways to put that timber to use.
“They’re looking at how to create new markets for that wood,” Shaw said.
Chandra also maintained that using biomass as a source for generating electricity is less reliable than other sources of energy, citing Winter Storm Elliott as an example. At a previous hearing, she said 267 of 303 megawatts of power produced from biomass were unavailable when the storm hit on Christmas Eve 2022 with record-low temperatures.
But Highsmith said a 60% reliability requirement is built into the PPA contracts.
“They have a number of robust incentives to keep their generating facilities online,” he said.
During a public comment period, critics of the projects also objected to their financial impact on Georgia Power customers.
The commission’s Public Interest Advocacy Staff has recommended that the PSC certify the three biomass projects based both on the economic benefits to the forestry industry and the benefits of diversifying Georgia Power’s energy generation mix. The commission will vote on the plan next week.
