Alicia Johnson Becomes First Black Woman on Georgia Public Service Commission

On Thursday, Alicia Johnson will become the first black woman to hold a statewide office in Georgia when she joins the Public Service Commission.

According to the AP, Alicia Johnson was sworn in on Monday during a ceremony at the commission’s chambers. Johnson called his election “a milestone” during the event. “You stand with me at the crossroads of history and responsibility. This pledge connects me to a long history of progress in Georgia — built by citizens who braved and extended the promise of democracy through courage, sacrifice, and persistence,” Johnson said in prepared remarks.

The impact of her election was not lost on Alicia Johnson during her swearing-in ceremony. “I think anybody who does something for the first time has — you know it can be a huge sense of responsibility,” Johnson told reporters after the event. “It’s a shame that a commission with a history of more than a hundred years, that I’m the first or anything in it. But the truth is, that’s who we are.”

According to CBS News, the Georgia Public Service Commission regulates the rates charged by Georgia Power Co. With 2.7 million customers, a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. is Georgia’s only private electric utility. Until the November election, the Georgia Public Service Commission was completely controlled by Republicans. Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard won in a landslide victory over Republican incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson. The two became the first Democrats to be elected to statewide office in nearly 20 years.

Their victory was largely fueled by dissatisfaction with rising resource prices, which coincided with the growing development of AI data centers in Georgia. “I accept this responsibility knowing full well that the decisions taken in this room and in this role affect the monthly bills of families, public health, their economic opportunity, and our shared future,” said Johnson during the event.

Johnson campaigned to make the commission’s website compliant with 508 accessibility standards and to create a consumer advisory group for District 2, which includes middle Georgia. One of his most notable promises is to pursue laws and regulations that ensure data centers are responsible for the energy they use, rather than passing the cost on to taxpayers.

“I don’t want to pay for someone else’s farm,” Johnson said. “And I don’t think anybody in Georgia wants to take on those costs.”

Although Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard defeated two Republican incumbents, the Public Service Commission of Georgia still has a majority of three Republicans. However, Johnson says he believes that resource goals should not be mutually exclusive. “Good policy is not red policy or blue policy — it’s people-centered policy,” Johnson told reporters. “We all took the same oath.”

Although governors have appointed dozens of black women to nonpartisan positions across the country, such as judges, Johnson is the first black woman to be elected to a nonpartisan statewide office. I wish I could say I’m surprised by that fact, but as Alicia Johnson so eloquently put it, it is who we are.

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