ATLANTA – The State Transportation Board gave the go-ahead Thursday to a series of improvements along Georgia 316 between Lawrenceville and Athens to relieve traffic congestion and improve safety along the heavily traveled corridor.
Board members approved a joint resolution with the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) to move forward on the first of three “bundles” of projects, a $100 million plan to build grade-separated interchanges at Georgia 316’s intersections with Bethlehem and Barber Creek roads in Barrow County.
The Georgia Department of Transportation will issue a request for proposals from interested contractors in July, Andrew Hoenig, construction program manager for the DOT’s Office of Alternative Delivery, told members of the board’s Program Delivery Committee on Wednesday.
The DOT will announce the apparent winner of the bidding in December and return to the board early next year for a notice to proceed with the work, Hoenig said. He said construction will start during the fall of next year,
“We’re looking at trying to grade separate some of the signalized intersections along the corridor,” he said. “You have a lot of conflicting movements now, with turns to the side roads, and you have a lot of bumper-to-bumper traffic.”
Hoenig said a second bundle of projects in Oconee County will build grade-separated intersections at the 316 intersections with Jimmy Daniel Road and the Oconee Connector. The contract for $150 million of planned improvements is due to be let this fall, with the procurement process to begin early next year.
The third bundle, with a price tag of just less than $100 million, will include a grade-separated interchange at Georgia 316 and Kilcrease Road in Barrow County and construction of an overpass over 316 at Carl-Bethlehem Road. Letting bids for those projects won’t occur until the last quarter of next year.
Under the joint resolution the transportation board approved Thursday, the DOT will handle procuring the contractors and managing the projects. SRTA will sign the agreement with the contractor chosen for the first bundle of projects and – because it has the ability to fund projects over multiple years – SRTA will pay for the work.
“All of this is great new for all of us,” said board member Jamie Boswell, chairman of the board’s Program Delivery Committee and the board’s representative for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District. “If you get on 316, it’s wonderful.”
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.1% last month for the ninth consecutive month, three-tenths of a point below the national jobless rate of 3.4%, state Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson reported Thursday.
Georgia’s labor force increased for the seventh straight month to nearly 5.3 million, an all-time high. The number of employed grew to just more than 5.1 million, also a record.
Jobs were up a slight 0.2% in April from March but have risen 2.3% compared to April of last year to almost 4.9 million, another all-time high.
“The state’s economy continues to soar with low unemployment and job growth in virtually every sector,” Thompson said.
Job numbers in the private education and health services sector grew to 655,900, followed by an increase of 518,400 in the leisure and hospitality sector.
Initial unemployment claims last month were up by 15% over March to 25,407. Over the year, initial jobless claims rose by 46%.
More than 154,000 job listings were posted online last month for Georgians to access. The top industries for openings included health care with 32,300 openings, retail trade with 18,400, and accommodation and food services with 13,300 openings.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp will lead an economic development mission to Israel this weekend, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.
The trip will mark Kemp’s second overseas visit since he began his second term in office in January. He addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the week after his second inauguration ceremony.
The governor will be heading to Israel at a time of heightened tension there. Israel’s military hit sites in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip last month in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on the Islamist group Hamas. The back and forth came after police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
Citing security concerns, the governor’s office did not release details of the trip other than that Kemp will meet with Israeli companies that conduct business in Georgia as well as with government officials.
Kemp and the Georgia Department of Economic Development jointly reported last February that the state achieved a record-breaking year for international trade last year for the second consecutive year.
In 2022, Georgia’s total trade exceeded $196 billion across 221 countries and territories. The state surpassed $47 billion in exports last year, breaking the previous record by nearly $5 billion.
Declining carbon emissions in Georgia are due largely to less use of coal to generate electricity.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s carbon emissions are declining despite strong economic and population growth, according to a statewide research initiative begun in 2020 by a multi-university collaboaration.
Carbon emissions in the Peach State fell by 5% between 2017 and 2021, researchers from Drawdown Georgia reported this week. Put another way, the carbon footprint of Georgia’s “average” citizen has declined 8% from 22,092 to 20,253 pounds.
“Based on the collaborations we’re a part of, we’re confident this is only the beginning of Georgia’s carbon reduction trend,” said John Lanier, executive director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, a primary funding resource for Drawdown Georgia.
A large part of the decline in carbon emissions is coming from the electricity sector, with Georgia power plant emissions falling by 15% between 2017 and 2021. The state’s utilities have moved away from coal in recent years in favor of natural gas and large-scale solar energy due to a combination of federal regulatory actions and public pressure.
The carbon footprint of offices and businesses has decreased due to changes in working patterns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the report found. Conversely, emissions due to use of electricity by residential customers has increases as many Georgians now work from home for at least part of the work week.
Transportation-related carbon emissions accounted for nearly 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2021, up 4% from 2017. Nearly all of that increase was driven by higher emissions from diesel-fueled medium and heavy-duty trucks caused by the pandemic-driven boom in online retailing.
Marilyn Brown, a professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech, said the report shows a mixed bag of encouraging and concerning news.
“While some numbers are trending in the right direction, our data analysis also tells us that segments of our economy have an expanding carbon footprint,” Brown said. “This helps us understand how to focus climate solutions work in Georgia where it is most needed.”
ATLANTA – The state Public Service Commission (PSC) Tuesday unanimously approved a fuel costs recovery plan submitted by Georgia Power that will increase the average residential customer’s bill by $15.90 per month.
The rate hike, which takes effect next month, was the product of an agreement between the Atlanta-based utility and the PSC’s Public Interest Advocacy staff that will let Georgia recover 100% of $2.1 billion in higher fuel costs it has incurred during the last two years from its customers.
Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald blamed higher natural gas prices that are beyond the commission’s control. He said the Green New Deal pushed by the Biden administration is responsible for driving up both gasoline and natural gas prices.
At a recent hearing, McDonald argued that state law requires the commission to let Georgia Power recover higher fuel costs as a pass-through. The company does not earn any profit from higher fuel expenses.
“We owe the bill, and we’ve got to pay it,” McDonald said.
“Just as Georgians paid higher prices at the gas pump in 2022, Georgia Power also paid more for the natural gas and other fuels we use to generate electricity,” the company added in a statement issued following Tuesday’s vote.
“Today’s decision by the Georgia PSC helps spread out these additional fuel costs over three years and adds relief for income-qualified senior citizens through an increased discount program.”
Representatives of environmental and consumer advocacy groups that appeared before the commission in recent weeks asked the PSC to reject Georgia Power’s fuel costs recovery plan in favor of the utility stepping up its use of solar and other forms of renewable energy in generating electricity.
“When bills jump next month, the most vulnerable Georgians are going to have to make unthinkable choices about how to spend their income,” said Jennifer Whitfield, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.
“The commission’s approach to this moment – giving the utility everything it wants while leaving the majority of its customers to struggle with higher monthly bills – is unacceptable. Georgia Power shouldn’t be pocketing billions in record profits while also putting customers in the position of choosing between power and basic needs.”
Commission Chair Tricia Pridemore proposed an amendment to further increase the higher fuel discount Georgia Power offers income-eligible seniors from $8 per month in the utility’s proposal to $9.50, bringing it to total of $33.50 per month.
The fuel costs recovery increase is one of several Georgia Power has already received in recent months or is poised to seek in the months ahead. The PSC approved a $1.8 billion increase last December that increased the average residential bill by $3.60 per month.
Rates are expected to go up again later this year when Georgia Power brings into service the first of two new nuclear reactors being built at Plant Vogtle south of Augusta.
The Arch on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia is holding the line on tuition despite a $66 million budget cut the General Assembly imposed in March.
The system’s Board of Regents voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a $3.18 billion fiscal 2024 operating budget with no increase in tuition for the sixth time in the last eight years at 25 of the system’s 26 institutions.
Tuition at Middle Georgia State University in Macon will increase by $19 per semester for in-state students and $66 for out-of-state students to fund the second year of a three-year plan to bring undergraduate tuition into alignment with other universities in the same academic sector.
Georgia’s public colleges and universities rank seventh-lowest in the nation for tuition costs, Tracey Cook, the system’s chief fiscal officer, told the regents.
The fiscal 2024 budget, which takes effect July 1, increases spending by 2.1% over the budget lawmakers approved last spring. It includes $87 million in cost-of-living raises for eligible employees and $7.5 million to cover enrollment growth.
The $66 million cut will be allocated across the system’s 26 institutions, Cook said.
System Chancellor Sonny Perdue was unhappy with the reduction and said so the day after the legislature approved it.
“We’re working hard to make our case for restoration of those funds,” board Chairman Harold Reynolds said following Tuesday’s vote.
In addition to the $66 million cut, Gov, Brian Kemp ordered the university system to “disregard” $6.2 million in spending approved by the General Assembly when he signed the state budget May 5.
Cook said those funds will be retained in the system office rather than allocated to the schools while the system awaits further information on how to handle those reductions.
The regents also adopted a $198.2 million fiscal 2024 capital budget that includes $137.8 million for large construction projects on five school campuses.
