by Dave Williams | Apr 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – An energy watchdog launched a nonprofit organization Monday aimed at bringing transparency and accountability to energy regulation in Georgia.
The goals of Georgia Utility Watch, the brainchild of Patty Durand, a former candidate for a seat on the state Public Service Commission, is to advocate for fair electric rates, a more transparent PSC, and more accountable state leadership on energy issues.
“Decisions are made with complete disregard for the state mandate to set rates that are just and reasonable,” Durand wrote in her new organization’s inaugural newsletter. “Never, ever are people prioritized or protected.”
Durand cites an unprecedented 23.7% increase last year in the rates Georgia Power’s residential customers pay that she says went unchecked by either the commission or the General Assembly. Specifically, she pointed to the legislature’s failure for two years in a row to pass a bill that would have reestablished the state Consumer Utility Counsel, disbanded in 2008 amid budget cuts brought on by the Great Recession.
She also criticized Gov. Brian Kemp’s veto last year of a bill that would have temporarily suspended a state sales tax exemption aimed at attracting data centers to Georgia after business interests objected to the measure. Another measure introduced this year to prohibit Georgia Power from passing on the costs of providing electricity to data centers to residential and small business customers cleared the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee but failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote.
Durand also noted that nearly 200,000 Georgia Power households were disconnected last year, an alarmingly high rate.
by Dave Williams | Apr 11, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – President Donald Trump’s decision on Wednesday to pause a huge hike in tariffs on dozens of countries for 90 days gave the slumping stock market a bump.
But that surge was short-lived amid investors’ fears that tariffs remained historically high – 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% for nearly all other nations. Of even greater concern is that Trump has ratcheted up the tariff on Chinese imports to 145%, with China retaliating in kind in a full-blown trade war.
It’s the volatility of the economy that has business owners in Georgia and elsewhere most worried, said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
“Businesses need and want consistency,” Clark said. “A lot of the anxiety right now in the Georgia business community comes from that uncertainty.”
“We don’t know what to charge our customers,” said Felipe Arroyave, president and CEO of Atlanta-based Spectrum International, a manufacturer of contact lenses. “We’re just in limbo.”
Throughout U.S. history, tariffs have been used to raise revenue for the federal government. In fact, until a federal income tax was established early in the last century, tariffs were the government’s primary source of revenue.
Tom Smith, an economics professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, said tariffs essentially are a tax.
“These tariffs are not paid by other countries,” he said. “They are paid by our businesses and our consumers. … Georgia companies will have to pay the tax, and they will likely have to pass some of that on to consumers.”
While higher prices will be felt broadly throughout Georgia’s economy, the businesses likely to feel the most impact are those that rely heavily on imports or exports.
Joseph Cortes, executive director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, said his industry imports aluminum primarily from Canada to produce beer cans and imports steel that goes into brewing equipment. The tariff on both is 25%.
“If these tariffs continue, we’re going to see a continued slowdown in growth and investment,” he said.
Cortes said it’s not simply a matter of raising prices to cover the cost of the tariffs because beer is not an essential product.
“This is a discretionary spending item,” he said. “The last thing our small breweries will do is raise prices.”
On the export side, poultry is one of Georgia’s top agricultural products, Mexico being the top market. The industry exports about 17% of the broilers produced in Georgia.
China was a key market for Georgia poultry in the past. But that’s no longer the case, a result both of high tariffs and non-tariff related steps China has taken including banning Georgia poultry following outbreaks of bird flu.
“Exports are an important part of the success of Georgia’s poultry industry,” according to a statement from the Gainesville-based Georgia Poultry Federation. “Georgia poultry can compete in any market in the world when the terms of trading are fair.”
While Georgia’s auto manufacturers are high on the list of industries that will be affected by the tariffs, confusion over how that will play out illustrates the complexities of enforcing the tariff hikes. Clark said cars produced in Georgia cross U.S. borders an average of seven times during the manufacturing process.
Ironically, the Georgia Ports Authority is enjoying a booming business with high tariffs looming. The Port of Savannah set a monthly record last month for containerized cargo traffic for the second month in a row, while the Port of Brunswick also broke its monthly record for autos and heavy equipment in March.
That success was due in part to customers front-loading orders in anticipation of the new tariffs, short-term gains that likely will go away once the tariffs set in.
Clark said large companies have the resources to make such adjustments in their orders.
“I worry about the small businesses,” he said. “They don’t have the capital to go out and buy everything. They’re going to take a hit.”
The president has stated the main goal of raising tariffs is to encourage manufacturers to move their overseas operations to the United States.
Smith said that’s a lofty goal but one that couldn’t begin to pay off in the short term because of the time it takes to acquire land, find workers, and build new plants.
“Those facilities couldn’t be open any time in the next year, or the next two or three years,” he said. “The idea of bringing manufacturing back to the United States is very impractical, at least in the short run.”
Clark sees a silver lining in the ramping up of tariffs. The Trump administration has announced that leaders of more than 70 counties have called to express an interest in negotiating tariff deals rather than retaliating against the U.S.
“If this administration is able to reduce existing tariffs, you could see new markets,” Clark said.
In its statement, the Georgia Poultry Federation also expressed reason for optimism.
“While we are monitoring these negotiations closely for impacts on our members, we support the administration’s goal of bringing balance and fairness to the international trading landscape,” the statement read.
For now, however, uncertainty remains the driving factor in how businesses are responding to the tariffs.
“A lot of business decisions, large and small, are on hold until we have a better understanding of what the tariffs set,” said Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. “I don’t think we’ll get a lot of new project announcements. … A lot of projects will be on hold.”
Clark said he’s advising Georgia Chamber members not to panic.
“I tell them to be calm, plan ahead, and don’t make rush decisions,” he said. “That’s really the best play now.”
by Dave Williams | Apr 8, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Democrats and Republicans are boasting of their fundraising success early in what is an off-year for elections in Georgia.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., raised more than $11 million during the first quarter of this year, the most ever raised by a Senate incumbent in the first three months of an off-year.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Republican Party brought in President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump to its Spring Gala, which raised more than $300,000.
Ossoff received donations from 156 of Georgia’s 159 counties, with an average contribution of $32 from nearly 260,000 donors. Ossoff will be up for re-election to a second six-year term in the Senate next year.
“I’m grateful to the hundreds of thousands of record-shattering supporters who have already joined what will be the biggest and most relentless turnout effort in Georgia history,” he said.
Republicans have yet to field a challenger to Ossoff. Potential GOP candidates are waiting to see whether term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp enter the race. If he does, he would be the clear frontrunner on the Republican side.
Last week’s Spring Gala was the Georgia Republican Party’s largest fundraiser in the last two years. More than 300 attending the event heard from GOP luminaries including Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, state Insurance Commissioner John King, and a host of Republican state lawmakers.
Headliner Lara Trump is a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
“I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Lara Trump for joining us in Georgia, just as she did so many times in 2024,” Georgia Republican Chairman Josh McKoon said. “I also want to recognize all of our sponsors and donors whose generosity made this incredible night possible.”
by Dave Williams | Apr 8, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia Board of Regents will vote next week on a proposal to consolidate Georgia Southern University and East Georgia State College.
The university system launched a wave of consolidations back in 2011 under the late Chancellor Hank Huckaby that initially involved eight consolidations and later led to five more. The goal was to reduce administrative costs while maintaining high standards for teaching and research.
“When we began our consolidation initiative, the system hadn’t changed much and needed to do things differently to better serve our students and the state,” system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Tuesday. “The dollars saved through consolidation have always been reinvested directly in our campuses – fueling the hiring of strong faculty, expanding student support services, and driving measurable improvements in retention and graduation rates. … Our commitment in making this recommendation is no different.”
Both Georgia Southern and East Georgia State College are four-year institutions. Georgia Southern is located in Statesboro, and East Georgia State College is in nearby Swainsboro.
If the regents approve the consolidation, it would then need approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. An implementation team with representatives from both schools would work out the details.
Georgia Southern was previously involved in a consolidation with the former Armstrong State University in Savannah in 2017.
The proposed consolidation would reduce the number of public colleges and universities in the system to 25.
by Dave Williams | Apr 8, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Port of Brunswick handled an all-time record of 91,360 units of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo last month, up 18% compared to March of last year, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Tuesday.
As was the case with container trade at the Port of Savannah, higher volumes of vehicles and heavy equipment at Brunswick was due in part to customers front-loading orders to avoid new tariffs. The Port of Brunswick has become the nation’s busiest for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo.
“More manufacturers are making Colonel’s Island a main hub for the global trade of autos and machinery,” said Griff Lynch, the ports authority’s president and CEO. “Brunswick’s central location in the fast-growing U.S. Southeast market and unmatched capacity to take on new business mean our customers can plan for the long term.”
To better handle growing trade at Brunswick, the first phase of a new railyard on the south side of Colonel’s Island Terminal will be completed next month. That will double rail capacity from five to 10 trains per week, increasing the port’s annual rail capacity from about 150,000 autos to more than 340,000.
A second phase in the project will bring annual rail capacity to 590,000 units, more than three times the current capacity.
The ports authority also recently competed $262 million in capacity upgrades in Brunswick, including new warehousing and vehicle processing space. A fourth berth for Ro/Ro vessels is in the engineering phase.
Lynch said uncertainty over tariffs has not affected the agency’s plans to invest $4.2 billion in capacity expansions at Savannah and Brunswick during the next decade.
