Hello.

I'm Archana Seshadri, Atlanta bureau chief for Nexstar Media.

Welcome to the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series from the studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta.

The 2026 debate series was made possible by grants to the Atlanta Press Club from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Robert Charles Loudermilk Foundation.

This is the debate for the Republican candidates running for Georgia district five public Service Commissioner, and it is a statewide race.

We have two journalists who will question the candidates.

Emily Jones is a climate reporter for WABE and Griggs.

Durukan is a climate reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

I'm going to kick off the debate by asking each of our candidates to introduce themselves and tell you why they should be the best.

District five Public Service Commissioner candidates.

You'll have 60s to introduce yourselves.

We will go in alphabetical order, starting with Bobby Meehan.

Bobby.

Good evening, and thank you to the moderators and the Atlanta Press Club for having me.

My name is Bobby Meehan, a businessman from Bremen, Georgia, a charming rural town about 50 miles west of Atlanta.

I'm a third generation Georgian.

I'm married to a public school teacher, and we have three little girls.

I'm a graduate of the University of West Georgia.

I started my career as a $10 an hour intern.

I worked my way up to the CEO of a small global health care technology company.

Today, I'm the managing partner of a local private equity firm and a certified mediator for the state of Georgia.

My approach to public service is very simple.

Let's run it like a business.

My top three priorities.

One no new rate increases.

And if I break that, you can fire me.

Number two, always put the ratepayer first.

And number three, a relentless pursuit of affordable, reliable, clean energy.

All right, Bobby, thank you so much.

We appreciate that.

Next, let's go to Carolyn.

Roddy.

Hello.

My name is Carolyn Roddy and I'm running for the district five seat because I think the Georgia Public Service Commission has not done a good job of of providing affordable rates for Georgia Power.

Right?

Right payers.

I'm also concerned about potential ratepayer.

Um, charges from data centers and the Georgia PSC.

Um, in, in December, basically granted Georgia power $16 billion to, to build five um, methane plants.

And my feeling is that we've got to really watch that.

Um, I, I think we need to do a top to bottom review of what is going on at the PSC.

I'm the person to do that.

I'm a regulator.

Um, I have, I have basically represented clients as a lawyer before the PSC.

I'm also a Trump political policy guy in utilities and telecom.

Um, I asked you to vote for me and for affordable rates and protecting ratepayers.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And last but certainly not least, we'll go to Josh Tolbert.

It's now your turn.

Hi, I'm Josh Tolbert, I am a Christian.

I'm a husband to my amazing wife, Mary, and I am dad to my five young, mostly civilized kiddos.

And I am an engineer.

The Public Service Commission makes decisions about energy systems.

It affects all Georgians.

And while these choices are technical, there's not a single engineer on the commission.

That's what brings me here today.

I have four engineering degrees, including a doctorate in mechanical engineering.

But my dad says that fancy degrees don't mean a whole lot if you don't have walking around sense.

And so I have that too.

I was raised working with my hands, working in the trades, operating heavy machinery before I became a licensed professional engineer.

I've designed power plants.

I'm a small business owner that can connect technical choices with economic outcomes.

This is expertise the Public Service Commission needs.

I'm running to bring it.

I'm Josh Tolbert and I'm running for Public Service Commission.

Josh, thank you so much.

And thank you to all of our candidates tonight.

Now for the full set of debate rules, you can visit Atlanta Press club.org for all of those details.

We'll now go to tonight's panel, starting with Drew Can, who will ask a question for Josh Tolbert.

Once again, you will have 60s for your response, drew.

So I've written a lot about this.

Emily has written a lot about this, but a lot of Georgians right now are struggling with their utility bills.

Um, the PSC froze Georgia power rates last year.

It's possible there could be a little bit of relief for bill payers coming later this year, but the next major rate adjustment is not until 2028.

As of now, if you're elected in the near term, what levers would you try to pull to provide immediate relief to ratepayers?

That's a great question.

You're right.

I mean, we've had six rate increases representing a 33% increase.

And you pointed out that the rate increases are the rate is frozen.

So really the ways that we make sure that the rate does not make sure the prices do not continue to go up.

We make sure there's not hidden cost in fuel riders or other recovery costs.

So making sure each and every proposal that comes before the commission that we provide technical scrutiny, we understand the proposal, we understand the impacts both on reliability but also affordability.

As a commissioner, that's what I would do.

All right.

Next let's go to Emily Jones.

You will now ask a question to Bobby Meehan.

Sure.

So you just made a promise of no new rate increases.

Um, historically, prior to the rate freeze that that drew just mentioned, the way that rate cases typically go is Georgia Power brings their rate case.

The commission and other parties weigh in.

And then usually we end up kind of somewhere in the middle.

Um, and so I'm curious how specifically you would achieve, uh, no new rate increases as, as you just promised.

Great question.

Thank you.

I think the simple answer is, you know, I get to vote autonomously.

And so I'm telling you for the next six years, once elected, I will not vote personally for a rate change.

That's the only thing that I can control.

I believe in traveling around this state, that there are innovative ways for us to to partner with outside entities, private sector partnerships with Georgia Power that might be attractive for them so that we can bring more capacity to the grid and allow us to ensure that we don't even need to have the rate increases.

And I'm excited to that's what I've built my career on, is partnering.

And I believe that there's there's a lot of appetite out there for those partnerships.

And using all of the above energy approach.

Thank you.

Bobby drew your turn to ask a question now to Carolyn.

Roddy.

Yeah.

Let's talk about data centers.

Obviously, a hot topic in the state has been for the last several years now.

Uh, Georgia Power is building huge amounts of new infrastructure to serve them.

And they have promised that their customers will not pay for that infrastructure down the line.

The PSC has made some changes to the contracts that the Georgia Power uses with data center customers.

But there's been some questions about how, um, how strong those safeguards are.

Do you think the Public Service Commission has the right guardrails in place to protect regular Georgians from data center costs?

And if not, what would you do differently to protect those ratepayers?

I think the Georgia PSC needs to look more closely at what is in the rate base.

And also they need to consider clawing back that $16 billion that they've authorized for those, um, plants that will serve large users, particularly data centers.

Um, you know, the PSC is not to be a roadblock or deterrent for Georgia power, as far as I'm concerned.

Georgia Power has been a good corporate citizen, and I personally don't want to live in a state that has brownouts.

But then on the other hand, you know, they do not get everything that they want.

Um, when they come in with the rate case, the PSC should tell them this is not sustainable because of the impact on, on ratepayers.

And that's going to be my focus on I'm I'm determined that that data centers will not cost a dime.

I personally think that, um, data centers should generate, should be allowed to generate their own power.

And that might be the solution.

But I think the PSC.

That is the time that we have for that round.

Thank you so much, Carolyn.

That of course concludes our first round.

The candidates will now get a chance to ask a question to an opponent of their choice.

You'll have 30s to frame up that question.

60s for that candidate to respond.

And the person who asked the question will then get a 32nd rebuttal.

Carolyn, we'll start with you.

You may ask one of your opponents a question.

Your turn.

Um, I'm going to ask the question of Josh.

Josh talks a great deal about the importance of of engineers.

And he talks about I'm a lawyer and he says that lawyers shouldn't run things.

The PSC literally had no lawyers except Fitz Johnson, who had not practiced.

But my question is the failures of the PSC recently that we've all identified, why were they engineering failures?

Where were the engineering failures there?

The PSC has a staff of of ten or 12 engineers in Georgia.

Power has a phalanx of engineers.

How did were there engineering mistakes made.

That's a great question.

Thank you for asking it.

So each and every proposal put forth in front of the Public Service Commission is a proposal based on a technical evaluation and technical data.

The point that I'm trying to make is attorneys provide value in looking at contracts and legal framework.

But the actual underlying basis for the decisions are in fact technical.

Are we going to do a coal plant, a natural gas power plant, a solar plant?

What's the effect on reliability?

What's the effect on affordability?

What's the emission result?

What's the dispatch ability?

All these sorts of things.

And so the point that I make is that when you're trying to make a decision based on technical data, there needs to be a nerd in the room.

There needs to be somebody in the room that understands the technical information.

And that's what I'm looking to bring to the commission.

And Mr.

Roddy, would you like to issue a rebuttal to that?

Yes, basically, I've been a regulator for 30 years, and we always team up as a lawyer with engineers.

And those engineers are really competent and really good.

The role of a commissioner is not to be an engineer or to second guess the engineering staff, but it is to make policy choices and decisions.

And that's what I'm here to do.

I evaluate the case and look at and determine what needs to be done in the public interest.

All right.

Thank you so much, Carolyn.

Bobby Meehan will now give it to you to ask one of your opponents a question.

Again, you have 30s to craft this.

So I'm going to ask my question to Miss Roddy.

I have publicly pledged to, for no rate increases whatsoever over our six year term in office.

My question to you is, are you willing to make that same commitment and pledge?

Um, I think, Bobby, that basically that pledge is a great starting point.

Um, I think right now there's a freeze on, on PSC rate increases until the end of 2020-28.

Um, we, I mean, we all know that Georgia Power has two rate increases waiting to be put in the hopper after the end of 2028.

Um, I, I, I will, I will pledge to give it the, the greatest amount of review, but I'm also going to look at the resilience of the network and the needs.

I think that plant Vogel should have been put on, not on ratepayers, but that $7 billion should have been put on on their shareholders.

Georgia Power, as you know, is a subsidiary of Southern Company.

They have had 24 consecutive years of paying dividends out on a quarterly basis.

That's ridiculous.

They need to review.

Your time is up.

Bobby, would you like to issue a rebuttal on that response?

Sure.

Um, well, I'm glad that you are willing to at least ride out the next three years of the rate.

The base rate freezes and, and not increase then, um, you know, I think it's, it's to me, I'm willing to put my neck out there and say six years, not a single rate increase from Bobby Meehan.

And so for my other conservative colleagues, I would, uh, I would encourage you to do the same.

All right.

Bobby, thank you so much for that.

We now go over to Josh Talbert.

Josh, you get to ask an opponent of your choice a question about their stance on a certain topic.

I'm going to ask Mr.

Meehan a question.

Bobby, in reference to your pledge that you just made, imagine you're the commissioner.

Georgia Power comes to you, says we miss estimated the number of data centers is going to come.

There's actually going to be more than we thought.

And so we have a grid reliability concern.

We need to quickly build some assets.

But to do so, we need to increase the base rate.

You just pledged that you were not going to increase the base rate for any reason.

How do you analyze that.

If they say there are grid reliability concerns, if we do not increase the rate?

Excellent question, Josh, and I appreciate you asking me.

So I'm a businessman from Bremen, Georgia.

Let me tell you, anytime a business decision, which is what this sounds like, comes before you, the questions have got to be, is it affordable?

Is it reliable?

Is it clean energy?

Like I said in the very beginning, and from the studies that I've done in traveling around this state, there are innovative ways for us to bring more capacity to the grid than just Georgia Power building.

Net new infrastructure and passing that downstream to its ratepayers.

So I'm confident that with innovation partnerships, we can do, we can bring the capacity that's needed.

If we expand the scope.

So, Bobby, that sounds great.

The concern that I have is in this in this presentation, Georgia Power is going to have their technical experts, they're going to have their analysis and they're going to say, here's the grid reliability concern.

Here are the regions that we have insufficient capacity for.

And so by saying that we you know, basically what you're telling me is blindly we're not going to give them the rate increase.

I think that we're risking grid reliability in particular areas.

And so what I'm a little concerned is that I think what Georgians actually need is somebody that's going to independently evaluate each and every proposal and make the right decision.

And that's what I will do.

All right.

Josh, thank you so much for that.

And welcome back.

If you are watching us, this is the Republican primary debate for Georgia District five Public Service Commission.

Again, it's a statewide race.

We're going to go to the panel in just a second.

But I wanted to ask our candidates a question.

Nexstar uses Emerson College polling for trying to figure out what voters care about in this election and the economy, the money, the jobs always come up.

We'll start with Bobby and work our way down.

What have you done to go to some of the other parts of Georgia Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, Macon, to other parts to understand what is important to voters, specifically when it comes to their utility bills, questions about data centers so that they feel that you are the right person to represent them.

Thanks for the question.

So the moment I qualified for this role, I have not stopped traveling this state.

I have crossed this state, east, west, north, south, you name it.

I've made over 1,000 different calls to different parts of the state, and I have asked that exact question because who cares what Bobby Meehan thinks?

It's what the voter thinks.

It's what it's important to you guys.

And so what I have done is I have been campaigning not for this position, but campaigning to understand what exactly could I do if I was hired for this role?

Okay.

And, um, the what I have found out is that, um, I have to continue to go out and they expect me to campaign and I'm going to continue to campaign.

All right.

Bobby, thank you for that.

Carolyn, same question to you.

Um, basically what I'm hearing are the two issues that we've talked about the rate increase and also data center concerns, the rate increase.

Um, you know, Georgia Power is now running all kinds of commercials talking about how their great corporate citizens than they love their customers and that their rates are affordable and fair.

But I mean, the reality is that people, you cannot go to the grocery store and not experience sticker shock.

There's a 2020 5% increase in groceries and everything else.

I don't want people in our state to lose.

Um, resiliency of their network, but I also don't want them to have to put their, their utility bill on a credit card and pay it off over years.

It's ridiculous.

And also data centers, um, you know, the PSC only deals with the, the cost of electric power to supply for them.

It's really a zoning issue, but people are hot about data centers.

And, um, those are the issues that I'm hearing about.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And Josh, your turn.

Same question in terms of have you been able to go out?

What have you done to listen to constituents?

Yeah.

I mean, just like Bobby and I'm sure Carolyn as well, you're running a statewide election.

You are all over this state without a doubt.

Um, so I think some of it is geography dependent.

You're in different areas.

Some areas are more concerned about data centers than other where they're coming.

Some are more concerned about solar fields.

If you're down in South Georgia, you know, in different areas.

But I think what is the common denominator here is, is on the PSC.

We are regulating the energy decisions of Georgia Power and Georgia Power supplies power to about 70% of this state.

And so each and every decision, whether it is for a project in South Georgia or in North Georgia, it affects every Georgia Power customer in this state.

And I think what Georgians need is someone that can understand the actual underlying details, understand the impacts on the reliability, but very importantly, the affordability and making sure that an independent decision is being made that will benefit all Georgians.

All right.

Josh, thank you so much.

And thank you to all of our candidates.

We'll now go to our panel of journalists.

Emily, we'll start with you.

You get to ask one of the candidates a question of your choice.

I'm actually going to ask all of the candidates a question.

Um, I would love to talk to you all about climate change because electricity generation is one of the leading contributors of greenhouse gas emissions that do worsen climate change.

So should the commission be more actively or explicitly incorporating climate concerns and climate change into their regulation and decision making?

And what would that look like?

And, Josh, we'll start with you and work our way down.

That's a great question.

I think first, we need to be clear about what the role of the Public Service Commission is.

So Public Service Commission doesn't set policy, but it actually oversees the decision of the utility.

And so what I think we need is somebody who understands all the factors when we're making a decision.

Affordability, reliability, flexibility.

But of course, emissions.

I think that we all would like the lowest emission option that meets our reliability and affordability concerns.

The question comes in when a reduction in emission results in a reduction of affordability or reliability.

And so that's where we have to be able to dig into the details, ask the right questions, and making sure we're being thoughtful in our concerns.

All right, Carolyn.

Um, I my feeling is that the Georgia PSC, um, has a role of protecting ratepayers in rates, but we do not dictate.

And I've talked with you about this, Emily, in our interview, that they do not dictate a renewables, um, quota, uh, that we do not we do not direct a certain type of renewables mix.

And I think Georgia Power has been a strong corporate citizen, and I don't want to interfere with that.

But they can't come to me and ask them to raise, um, consumer rates and, and then reward shareholders the way that they have been.

So understand my position, which is my role is to make sure that we, we protect the public interest and that's capacity, resiliency and also affordability.

And Bobby, your turn.

Emily, I certainly hope you vote for me after I give you this answer here.

Okay.

I am laser focused on affordable, reliable and clean energy.

I firmly believe I really do believe this.

I'm passionate about about it.

Is that affordable, reliable, clean energy can live in the same portfolio.

I don't think that we should dictate what exactly renewables need to what percentages they need to, to populate the grid.

I don't know that they're sustainable for carrying the baseload, but I'm in all of the above energy guy, and I certainly want to be a good steward of our environment.

All right, Bobby, thank you so much for that.

Now we'll go over to drew.

Drew, your turn to ask our candidates a question of their choice.

Yeah.

This is a question for all the candidates.

Transparency related.

But in the past, PSC commissioners have received campaign contributions from individuals representing companies with business.

Before the commission.

Some people believe that represents a pretty significant conflict of interest, potentially biasing their decisions in significant cases.

If you're elected, will you accept contributions from people representing electric utilities or other companies with a vested interest in outcomes at the PSC?

And Carolyn, we'll start with you.

We have 30s for response.

In the interest of time.

I don't think so.

Um, I think that basically the PSC has been bought and paid for as so as have many other policy decision makers in this state and nationally.

And I don't want to be owned by anybody.

I'm coming into this thing where I don't need this job.

I want this job because I want to do a good job.

And, um, right now, I haven't accepted any utility donations.

I haven't even sought donations right now.

I don't think that I will.

All right.

And I'm certainly not going to go on a free lunch with them.

You know.

So much for that.

We appreciate it.

Bobby.

We'll go to you again, 30s, to craft your response.

So I'm not a professional fundraiser.

I'm grateful for any any dollar that somebody believes that they're investing in me.

I think we need to, to follow and adhere campaign, you know, campaign reform or campaign finance and make sure that we don't we don't blur any lines.

But as a business person and as a mediator, conflict of interest always comes first and foremost and first and foremost to anybody that has donated to our campaign, whoever you are, I just want you to know how grateful I am.

Um, I don't, you know, it's, it's a free country.

I don't see who donates, but.

All right.

Thank you so much, Bobby.

We are out of time.

We'll go to Josh now for your answer.

I can't speak for my opponents, but no utilities have offered me any money.

Uh, I would love to see that.

Um, I would love for this campaign to be funded by Georgians and shameless plug.

You go to team tober.com and I would love for you to be a part of that.

I think that anybody that wants to see an independent voice with technical credibility making decisions on the commission, I think I'm the person for them.

All right.

Josh, all right.

Caroline and Bobby, thank you all so much for that round.

Now we have time for our closing statements.

The candidates will get 60s each to craft a closing statement.

Josh, we'll start with you.

I've really enjoyed getting to know Bobby and Caroline over the course of this campaign.

They are really great people.

The distinction I would like to highlight is our background and experience.

Um, they are a business professional and an attorney.

While I am an engineer, I believe that we need an engineer on the commission.

Anybody that's worked on a group project before knows that you want a nerd on your team.

And I would like to be the nerd on your team.

This detail requires expertise.

It requires digging into the details, asking the really hard questions, and making an independent assessment that ensures grid reliability, but also protects ratepayers from undue costs.

This job is technical, and it is time that we send an engineer to do it.

I'm Josh Tolbert and I would be honored to earn your vote.

If you would like to learn more about me, please look me up.

Team tolbert.com.

T e a m tolbert.com.

Thank you.

All right, Josh, thank you so much.

Carolyn, your time now for closing statements.

This is a regulatory job, not an engineering job and not a small business job.

I've done this for 30 years.

I have a high level of expertise and I know how to break these rate cases apart.

And not just rate cases, but all the other policy decisions that the PSC is going to make.

I'm very comfortable with that because I've done it.

All of my professional career, and it's been an honor to be involved in those policy debates and to make those policy decisions.

Vote for Carolyn Roddey, PSC district five.

All right, Carolyn, thank you so much.

And, Bobby Meehan, you get tonight's final statement.

I respectfully disagree with Josh, although I have really very much enjoyed getting to know you guys.

But the public service commissioner is not the one who knows the most about protons, neutrons and electrons.

Really, what we need is somebody who can bring all parties interests together, while there's always room for improvement.

I believe with my background and my experience, I'm the best candidate for this job.

My ask is that you hire me.

Bobby Meehan, as your public service commissioner, and if anyone is undecided after this debate, I'd encourage you to just vote for the person at the top of the ticket on district five Public Service Commission.

I appreciate y'all hosting.

Thank you very much.

All right, Bobby, thank you so much for that.

And early voting is already underway in Georgia.

It will run through Friday, May the 15th.

And Election Day is about three weeks away.

That is Tuesday, May the 19th.

We want to take a moment to thank all of our candidates, as well as our panel of journalists.

We also would like to thank the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting for arranging this debate.

I'm your host, Archit Seshadri.

Thank you so much for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

Have a great day.