by Dave Williams | Aug 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Power has received delivery of the first of three new gas turbines at Plant Yates near Newnan, the Atlanta-based utility announced Friday.
The turbine was assembled by Mitsubishi Power in Savannah and transported to Plant Yates by truck and rail.
The new gas units are the first to be added to Georgia Power’s electrical generation fleet in a decade. When all three are in service, they will provide 1,300 megawatts of generating capacity.
“The new natural gas unit at Plant Yates will be a great addition to our fleet, using existing property and infrastructure to deliver the best overall value for customers and providing exciting new investment at a plant that has been an economic driver in Coweta County for decades,” said Rick Anderson, senior vice president and senior production officer for Georgia Power.
The state-of-the-art gas turbines will provide higher output and greater efficiency than previous generations of the technology. They also feature built-in flexibility to run on oil if natural gas becomes unavailable.
Environmental groups and consumer advocates have raised concerns that adding new gas-fired units to Georgia Power’s fleet will extend the company’s reliance on carbon emitting fossil fuels. They also argue natural gas prices are highly volatile.
The Georgia Public Service Commission has approved construction of the new units as part of a broader request for additional generating capacity to meet growing customer demand for electricity, primarily for large-load customers including data centers.
In addition to the new turbines at Plant Yates, Georgia Power also is planning to construct new gas units at Plant Bowen near Cartersville, Plant Wansley near Carrollton, and Plant McIntosh near Rincon.
Building the three new turbines at Plant Yates will generate about 600 construction jobs and add 15 permanent jobs to the plant’s current workforce of 60. The units are expected to be online by the end of 2027.
by Dave Williams | Aug 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Southwest Georgia man was convicted in federal court this week of wire fraud resulting from a pandemic fraud scheme involving family members.
Tyreek Brown, 28, of Pelham faces a maximum of 30 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Two codefendants in the case – Sherronica Jackson, 38, and Alan Brown, 52, also from Pelham – previously pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on Nov. 12.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Jackson received a U.S. Small Business Administration loan for $20,207 through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in March 2021. As part of the application process, she claimed a gross income for 2019 of $97,000, which she did not earn.
Jackson also helped her stepfather, Alan Brown, and her stepbrother, Tyreek Brown, obtain fraudulent PPP loans totaling $20,833. Alan Brown falsely claimed loans for a non-existent contracting business, while Tyreek Brown applied for two loans as sole proprietor of another business that didn’t exist.
After receiving the two loans, he sent Jackson money from a joint account he shared with Alan Brown amounting to $3,000.
Tyreek Brown was found guilty on one count of wire fraud and not guilty on a second count.
“Our office will pursue justice for these types of criminal schemes that deliberately defraud taxpayers,” said William R. “Will” Keyes, U.S. attorney for the Macon-based Middle District of Georgia. “I thank our law enforcement and prosecutorial team for holding those responsible accountable.”
The case was investigated by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General as part of its Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Taskforce.
by Dave Williams | Aug 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.4% last month, down from 3.5% in June, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Georgia joblessness was eight-tenths of a point lower than the national unemployment rate of 4.2%.
“More Georgians are stepping into the workforce and securing jobs – a trend that’s held strong for two consecutive months,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Barbara Rivera Holmes said. “These gains reflect the power of putting workers first and building strong partnerships across Georgia.”
Despite the decline in unemployment, the number of jobs in Georgia decreased by 500 last month to just short of 5 million.
Job sectors posting the largest gains during the month were health care and social assistance, which added 2,800 jobs; durable goods manufacturing, which gained 2,700 jobs; and construction, with a gain of 2,100.
The sectors with the biggest job losses were accommodation and food services, which declined by 4,500 jobs; and transportation, warehousing and utilities, which posted a loss of 1,400.
Georgia’s labor force rose by 732 in July to nearly 5.4 million. The number of employed Georgians increased by 1,702 to nearly 5.2 million, while the ranks of the unemployed fell by 970 to 185,351.
Initial jobless claims increased by 5,073 during the month to 24,730.
by Dave Williams | Aug 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Lawyers representing the state and the Republican National Committee asked a federal appellate court Wednesday to reverse a lower court order blocking two provisions of a controversial election reform law the GOP-controlled General Assembly passed in 2021.
A U.S. District Court judge granted a preliminary injunction in 2023 to civil rights and voting rights groups challenging a provision in Senate Bill 202 that prohibited volunteers from providing food and water to voters waiting in long lines within 150 feet of a polling place. The judge also threw out a second provision requiring voters to include their birthdate on absentee ballot envelopes.
The legislature’s Republican majorities passed Senate Bill 202 in the aftermath of a Democratic surge in 2020 that saw Joe Biden become the first Democrat to carry Georgia in a presidential election since 1992, followed in short order at the start of 2021 by the elections of Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the U.S. Senate.
Legislative Democrats opposed the bill, calling it an effort by the GOP to suppress the vote in Georgia.
On Wednesday, Georgia Solicitor General Stephen Petrany argued before the 11th District U.S. Court of Appeals that the 150-foot buffer zone established by the law was aimed at protecting voters in line at the polls from intimidation and to prevent voter fraud.
“States have been doing this for over 100 years, trying to protect voting lines,” he said. “Just the commotion … might be enough to dissuade some people from getting in line.”
But Davin Rosborough, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, said the volunteers who provided food and water to voters in line at polling places were not attempting to intimidate them. They simply were encouraging them to stay in line, he said.
“Long lines in Georgia are notorious, six hours, eight hours,” Rosborough said. “The intent of groups showing up and providing support to people standing in line was to deliver the message that participation (in voting) is important, despite the obstacles.”
Gilbert Dickey, a lawyer representing the Republican National Committee, told the appellate court panel the provision in Senate Bill 202 requiring voters to include their birthdate on absentee ballot envelopes was necessary to establish their identity.
“The state is entirely within its rights to confirm identification,” he said. The birthdate is a way to do that.”
But Laurence F. Pulgram, a lawyer for the NAACP, argued that throwing out an absentee ballot because the voter provided an incorrect birthdate or failed to provide a birthdate reduces the number of votes that end up being counted. He said 74% of the ballots rejected in Gwinnett County in 2022 were due to the birthdate requirement.
Pulgram said requiring birthdates on absentee ballot envelopes is unnecessary because voters already are required to establish their identification through the state’s photo ID requirement under another provision of Senate Bill 202.
“We don’t want anyone not qualified to vote to cast a ballot,” he said. “(But) if it’s not material, a (birthdate) error must be overlooked.”
Voting rights advocates and civil rights groups also are challenging other provisions of Senate Bill 202. Oral arguments in those cases are due to be heard this fall.
by Dave Williams | Aug 12, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia (USG) generated $23.1 billion in economic impact in fiscal 2024, while recent graduates stand to earn $1.4 million more over their lifetimes thanks to their college degrees, according to two studies released Tuesday.
The economic impact total represented an increase of 5.4% over the previous fiscal year. Of that total, $15.2 billion was in direct spending by students and the system’s 26 institutions on personnel and operating costs, while $7.9 million was the multiplier impact of those funds on local communities.
The companion study found that graduates from the Class of 2024 earning bachelor’s degrees on average will see $1.4 million in lifetime earnings more than those without a college degree. For those with master’s degrees, those earnings rise to $1.7 million, while holders of doctorates earn nearly $2.5 million more in their lifetimes on average.
“A degree from one of USG’s 26 public colleges and universities is a million-dollar deal for graduates and a billion-dollar boost for Georgia,” system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Tuesday. “Students see real returns through higher earnings and better opportunities. Meanwhile, our institutions power Georgia’s economy and help local communities thrive.”
Of the jobs generated by USG schools during the period surveyed, 32% were on campus, and 68% were off campus. Between them, the university system and the various campuses created about the same employment impact in Georgia as the state’s top five employers combined.
Both studies were conducted on the system’s behalf by Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
