Athens Forum on Energy and the Environment

Hey y’all. Good evening. Thank you so much for coming out this evening. I know that we all have so many competing demands. So, the fact that you’re here

means a lot and I’m so grateful to our candidates for showing up. Appreciate it. So, um tonight we’re going to learn

about candidate stances on data centers, extreme heat, water quality, environmental justice, and energy affordability.

[clears throat]

[snorts]

Uh, this forum is part of Stance on Science, a nonpartisan effort to share candidates stances on science-based

issues affecting communities in Georgia and across the United States. As part of our nonpartisan forum, we contacted all

the candidates running for Georgia House districts 120, 121, and 122, and Georgia

Senate Districts 46 and 47. We provided them with equal opportunity to attend

this forum. Senator Frank Gin had a change to his schedule, so he will not be with us tonight. All candidates were

provided with an opportunity to answer our questions with written responses. In addition to our attending candidates,

Frank Gin and Dutch guest responded to our questions and you can view these responses in your RSVP email or on the

Stance on Science website. All candidate responses will be posted by October 12th.

Um, so a little bit about the forum structure tonight. We’ll have the candidates first introduce themselves.

Um then they’ll answer five questions that our forum committee created. Um and then they’ll have a minute and a and a

[clears throat] half to respond to each question. And candidates will then respond to audience questions as time permits. Um if you have a question for

the candidates, write your question on the note cards that are provided at the door. Um and bring them to the end of

the aisle. We’re going to collect your questions after a two-part question on data centers and so we’ll try to work those in.

All right, so let’s begin with candidate introductions and um I think what we’re going to do is is a little bit of a roundroin.

So every time somebody else will go first. So um you’ll have one minute for your response and we’ll start with Susanna.

They should be.

Hi, I’m Susanna Kerasses and I’m running for House District 120 and I’m so happy to be here tonight. Thank you for setting this up. This is great. Um the

environment and um everything involved with it, the climate crisis, data science is all very important to me. I

don’t think that our current legislature is doing enough uh to address it.

There’s obviously um issue with the drought in Georgia. Uh the data centers are using up a lot of water. Uh the climate crisis just keeps getting worse

every year. I mean, look at how hot it is right now in October and it seems to me like it’s not even really on the current

administration’s agenda. You know, if if things are going against big oil, um then they don’t really even have a spot in the they they’re not even addressed.

So, I do believe that if we can, you know, flip the Georgia State House and really start passing some legislation that addresses some of these issues, um, that would that would mean a lot to me.

That’s one of the reasons I’m running. I have a 4-year-old daughter and I want her to have somewhere to grow up.

All right, next we’ll have Ray Smith.

Hey, everyone. Um, I only have a minute. So, normally I go through my whole policy policy spiel, the stump speech, all that. But, um,

instead I’m just going to tell a little story about myself uh that hopefully how I value science and why I’m going to

follow the experts in all my policym decisions. Um, I was on a hiring board on one of my previous jobs several years

ago. And through that time, we had several people who had master’s degrees or PhDs. And I always took the time to

go back and read their research and ask them questions about it [cough] [clears throat] for a few reasons. One, it’s just fascinating. I want to know

what they care about, what they find interesting. Uh, two, I want to know how they approach problems.

[clears throat]

research is a a great way to get that insight. Um, and I’m a big reader. I’ve

been reading a book a week for about 5 years now. And my last two books were words of radiance uh from the Stormlight

Archives, Brandon Sanderson, and uh, Bottle of Lies, which is about the pharmaceutical industry and the quality

problems that we have. So, I didn’t talk about a lot of policy, but that’s a little bit about myself to illustrate how I approach problems and and the

types of things that I’m interested in and care about when it comes to policy and how I make changes.

[cough]

Can you hear me? I don’t think it’s on.

Um, hi everyone. My name is Eric Gistler. I’m the incumbent state representative for House District 121.

Uh running for reelection in a very difficult district. Um so, uh my background is well I’ve got I’ve got two kids. They’re both in college right now.

Um I I am not a scientist. I work in IT.

I’ve been in I’ve been doing um internet technology for 26 years. Um, I did graduate way back in the 1900s from UG

with a biology degree and an oceanography degree. So, I do have a science background. Um, and and you

know, that has really helped me in my career because, you know, when you’re looking at solving problems, you know, that scientific method really kind of

played right into my approach to IT issues. Uh, and I was talking to Ray a couple weeks ago who has a a software

engineering background, too. And it it kind of helps in a legislative role because you have to understand the technology and the nuts and bolts of things, but

you have to be able to explain it to people as well. Um, and so so that that background kind of helps. And I’m at time, so I’ll stop now.

Thank you for your introductions. We’ll now move on to our question. Um, starting with a two-part question on data centers.

So, Georgia is becoming a hub for data centers due to tax breaks, amenable regulations, and available land. While

data centers may grow the tech industry, data centers also have environmental and health impacts such as significant water

and electricity usage as well as noise pollution.

So the first part of this question is how will you protect Georgian health and property values with data center

legislation? And you’ll each have a minute and a half to respond. And we’ll start with Rey and then move on to Eric and then Susanna.

Sure. Um so first and foremost I think that we need to pass a moratorum um to halt new data center construction um

because we don’t have the proper safeguards in place. So first and foremost we need to stop the harm that’s being done. Um we shouldn’t have local

officials signing NDAs about these projects. Um, and in terms of the the types of legislation that we need to

pass, we need to um include things like community benefits agreements to make sure that local communities are getting benefits from these big developments.

Um, [snorts] they don’t have to be harmful. The the data centers that are being built right now are massive and have a very large impact and footprint.

And we need to be careful about where we build these things and the impacts that they have, but they don’t have they can

be a big benefit to local communities in terms of tax base, but we’re not enforcing that. So, community benefit agreements are one way that we can do

that. Um, let’s see. I’ve got my notes here.

um we need to make sure that they are covering the full costs of upgrades to our transmission systems and that

they’re paying their fair share of rates uh when they’re such large u consumers of electricity. Um like I said, they

don’t have to be harmful. They could be 100% renewable. They could be building their own renewable energy to cover their own needs and they’re not doing

that. So, moratorum and then proper regulations to make sure that they’re good stewards of our communities.

Um, so I I I can kind of echo a lot of what Ry said except I don’t I don’t really go straight to mortorium. I think there’s a lot of gray area between

moratorum and what we’re doing right now because what we’re doing right now is giving massive tax breaks to attract

these data centers to come here and and we’re not asking the right questions. we have not been asking questions about what they’re doing in terms of where the

power is coming from, where the water’s coming from, you know, the noise, things like that. So, I I think there’s a lot of things we could do to try to rein

them in a bit and start number one by repealing that tax credit. Um that that I that’s actually a tax credit at the

state level, but also local property or local um sales taxes are also, you know, credited. So, um, that’s a hit to local communities as much as the state budget.

Uh, I think the last number I saw was it’s it’s around $2.53 billion we’ve given up on that. Um, but as far as the environmental impact, I think if there’s

going to be well, number one, there needs to be a lot of regulation about how much water can be consumed. Uh, there needs to be guarantees that

they’re going to pay for the the infrastructure for the power grid that’s going to power them. Uh, we need to pro be incentivizing them to use clean

energies. Um, I’ve talked to Peter Hubard, public service commission, about the Beyonce plan. Not sure if you heard about that, but bring your own clean

energy if you’re going to have a massive facility that uses power like that. We need to be incentivizing them to to do

it cleanly. Um, and also, I mean, 100% agree with the the community benefit agreements. Um, so I’ll stop there.

Um, yeah, I agree with pretty much everything they said. I do agree we should have a moratorum for a year just so that we can get in and pass some

legislation. Uh, I see data centers as pure capitalism and it’s up to the states, the legislators to regulate

them. So, if we tell them, hey, you can’t use this much water. Hey, you’ve got to use your own energy, they’ll do it. It’s just that no one’s telling them

to. Um, so right now they’re just doing everything in the most benefit to them, the cheapest way possible. Uh, there are

ways to cool their systems that do not use up millions of gallons of water uh, every day or every month. And so we just have to get in and give them guidance.

And we also need to uh, zone them, I think, in industrial zones, not in residential or over our beautiful

landscapes of Georgia. Um, they take up so much room. They’re in such big buildings. That’s another thing we can regulate. Um, all we have to do is tell these companies that they have to

innovate and uh, you know, rise to the occasion of, okay, we’re not all right with you sucking up all of our natural

resources and taking up so much land and causing so much noise pollution. Um, they’re they’re just getting away with it now because because no one’s ordering

them around and that is what we absolutely have to do. So yeah, I agree with the moratorum while we sort of pass legislation, get them in line and start

zoning them and absolutely remove the tax credits. Uh there is no reason that these billion dollar companies should be getting tax credits. That is absolutely

absurd. We could be benefiting as a state from this money. Um so we should be doing that.

Great. Thank you all. Uh the second part of this question is how will you ensure communities have meaningful opportunity

to provide public input and comments that inform state and local decision- making in regards to data centers? It’s my turn, right?

That’s right. Thank you. Um you’re going to have to remind me because [laughter] um yeah, as far as you know, local

community input, um that’s definitely an issue and and you know, Ray mentioned that, you know, local leaders are allowed to assign NDAs about what these

deals have and in some cases I’ve even heard that that they’re not even aware of, you know, all the the parts of the

deal. Um so I mean that’s number one. I think that communities there needs to be that transparency.

um that could go all the way up to the form of requiring a local referendum before you, you know, approve projects

of a certain size. Um that’s something that that as far as I know, we could do at the at the legislative level. Um and it’s something we might want to think

about. Um you know, a lot of these projects, they they are, you know, they do go through local zoning and the local

approvals and things like that. So, you know, what we can do at the state level is a little bit limited. um other than that that regulation and really ensuring the the transparency as much as we can.

Um this is the rest of the question there.

Um yeah, I mean I think I’m going to leave it at that. Thank you.

Um, yeah. So, I’ve seen so many videos, as I’m sure you all have, of uh local communities or uh municipalities having

meetings on these data centers where there is public outcry saying that they don’t want them for whatever reason. Uh we’ve listed a lot of the reasons why

and then the towns just move forward with them anyway. Maybe it’s because they think that they’re going to get uh

you know, money from the money for the town. um they’re going to be able to abate some of the taxes in the town and the data center’s going to sort of pick

up the bill. But either way, if the people who live in the city are or the town are against it and then their local

leaders are not listening to them and doing it anyway, then what else can you do except elect new local leaders? Um I

think that’s very important. You know, you’ve got to make sure that the people in charge of your of your area are listening to what you want. So that’s

why voting local is so incredibly important, especially as we move forward into this sort of um extreme capitalism

that we’ve got going right now. And uh yeah, I think that um it, you know, at the at like Eric said,

at the state level, it’s kind of hard to regulate what is going to go on in each town. I mean, we can say, you know,

[gasps]

that they have to have a certain amount of time from when it’s proposed until it goes through, that kind of thing. And I’m happy to look into any of that and

legislate anything that helps um towns get enough of uh the information they need and enough time they need. Um but I

think that the one-year moratorum is is going to help with a lot of that.

Let’s see. [clears throat] I mean, if y’all will speak closer to the mic, we won’t have that weird reverb.

It was also off. It has an auto off feature and so if we don’t talk for too long, it turns off. So, um, let’s see. So, we’re talking about

public comment providing input. Um, it’s tough going third on these because, you know, they’ve both said a lot of what I

would otherwise say, but of course I I don’t think that local officials should be signing NDAs and I don’t think that projects should be able to go through of

this size without the local government knowing that it’s going on. Um, we do have rules in place where you’re

supposed to provide a certain amount of uh time for public comment on on zoning changes and things like that. Um, you

know, one thing that we could do is provide more guidance. Um, the state could provide more guidance to local

governments for implementing things like these community benefit agreements or how to negotiate the contracts and how to make sure that these developments are

not damaging to the local community. Um, I don’t know what else needs to be said.

I mean, the the other two have have said basically everything that I would. Um it’s very important that we have uh sufficient public comment and if there

is public outcry, people should have the ability to hold their um elected officials accountable. Um so that’s that’s all I got to say about that.

Great. Thank you. At this time, we’ll collect candidate questions from our audience. Please pass your questions to the volunteers.

Who are our volunteers? I think they’re up here.

um at the end of the aisle and after we complete our questions on energy and the environment, we’ll ask our candidates three questions from the audience

and we’ll select questions concerning science-based issues and we may make minor changes or edits uh based on brevity and clarity.

All right, our next question will address environmental concerns. Uh, extreme heat is a serious public health

issue and vulnerable populations like the elderly, infants, and outdoor workers are most at risk. Additionally,

the number of annual extreme heat days have increased statewide and are projected to continue to increase in the

future. At the same time, Georgia is projected to experience more frequent and intense droughts.

So the question is, what policies do you plan to implement to mitigate the rising health risk of extreme heat and drought on Georgian?

Yes, thank you. Um this is obviously very important and I think one thing we can start doing immediately is to pass

uh legislation uh for emergency centers all around the state for anyone who you know doesn’t have air conditioning in

their house especially if you’re uh elderly or you’ve got small kids. Um we need to have stations set up uh

especially during the summer or during the extreme well just during the summer.

We won’t talk about the cold um during the extreme heat because we can see how horrible it is. I mean, we are lucky to live in a place that has air

conditioning in most houses. But I mean, you think about it uh this year how rough it was on a lot of Europe. I mean, people were I mean, they were dying left

and right because uh they Europe is just not um most of the countries there don’t have air conditioning everywhere. Um,

but you know, if if there’s an extreme heat wave and power goes out, people, especially if you’ve got health problems, really need availability um to

be able to cool down and get to some kind of center where they can protect themselves and their family. And um

there’s, you know, I think with the data centers, we’ve got to work on the water usage. There’s a lot of different ways

we can we can stop so much water usage um in agriculture and uh in um in

industry. You know, we’ve got to make sure that everything is in balance with the needs of the citizens living here.

They’ve got to come first. I don’t like this whole idea that AI is somehow more important than the people who live here.

So yeah, I will always prioritize uh citizens of Georgia drinking water over any other water usage.

Um yeah, so first off, Georgia does not have a uniform heat standard. Um several other states do. The federal government

also does not have a a uniform heat standard um for when it’s too hot to work, what conditions it’s too hot to work under. Um so first and foremost, we

need to pass a heat standard. uh Georgia or the AFL CIO national has been working on legislation like this at the national

level. Um but we can pass uh those kinds of guidelines here in the state as well.

Um we need to prevent Georgia Power uh and EMC’s from cutting off power during the hottest days of the summer for

failure to pay. Um, it is inhumane to shut off someone’s power uh when it is

95 plus degrees outside, 105 plus degrees outside. Um, this one actually I think the battery keeps dying. So, I’m just going to come back over here.

[snorts] Um, let’s see what else. We need more transparency about power and water usage for large consumers. Um, and

we need to preferentially um limit those uh users over like Susanna said, we need to prioritize health and human safety.

We need to make sure that um the grid isn’t being threatened because of these large users that are just blowing right

through um limits. And instead, we should throttle them in times when the grid is stressed or when there’s a water shortage.

Um, I’m not really sure what to add to that. Uh, they pretty much covered everything. Um, you know, that what I think about is when it comes to extreme

heat, we really need to think about plans because it’s only going to get worse, right? We we need to think of of short medium-term plans around

protecting our most vulnerable. That would be elderly, children, things like that. Um, I I would totally be in favor of of, you know, some kind of state program establishing cooling centers.

Um, and I would even go as far to say that, you know, kind of taking a step towards a long-term, you know, way to address this issue. They should be solar

powered. We shouldn’t be powering those with, you know, fossil fuels. Um, we have we have a solar industry here in Georgia. We have battery manufacturers.

We there’s a facility, I think it’s in Clarksville, that builds solar panels from raw materials to finished product.

So that could even help Georgia’s economy while addressing this issue. Um, so I think that’s that’s one thing for sure we should think about. Um, you

know, as far as the drought, I I I I kind of have to turn to the data centers also, right? The the data centers are consuming a lot of water and that’s not

something we need if we’re dealing with drought conditions and we’re expecting them to get worse in the state. Um, you know, and and as far as regulating that,

we could have we could have maximum, you know, allowance, you know, usage allowances or we could even incentivize,

you know, based on on consumption, you know, the lower consumption you have, maybe you do get a little bit of a tax credit. Um, you to try to incentivize

that, but we can’t allow like open loop, you know, cooling systems that just use evaporative technology and and and use up the water when we need it to live with live on.

Thank y’all. Uh PAS or forever chemicals are common longasting chemicals used in dyes, pesticides.

Uh common household products like water resistant clothes, cleaners, and cookware. Forever chemicals have contributed to high risk of thyroid

disruption, developmental delays, and cancer. The EPA recently rolled back regulation on some forever chemicals and

extended the deadline for utility companies to limit exposure to contain to contaminated water.

What policies or investments would you support to improve drinking water safety in Georgia?

So, first and foremost, we need um more thorough testing. uh PAS is in everything and elimination of all of our

PAS exposure is not realistic in the short term, but we need to make sure that we’re having more robust water

testing standards across the state, especially if the federal government is um backing down on its previous promises to do that. So, if the feds aren’t doing

it, we have to do it locally. Um the testing that we do then should be

followed up with datadriven action. We need to make sure that we’re addressing the highest uh concentration contam

contamination sources and paying attention to the the companies that use PAS and their products and make sure

that we have good testing in place to know when there’s a contamination event so that we can follow up quickly and prevent harm. um for people that have

already been harmed, we need to make sure that they’re getting the medical care that they need. I think later there’s going to be a question about Medicaid expansion, but obviously we

have uh a healthc care crisis in the state. And if people are getting harmed by um the companies that are near them,

then they should be able to get compensation for that and be able to get the medical care that they need to address the problems. Um [snorts]

yeah, that’s that’s what I got to say about that.

[laughter]

So, um I I really appreciate this question because I introduced legislation last session on this. Um so

so I I introduced legislation what it what it did was it it you know named specific forever chemicals PAS chemicals

and it would require that local you know water systems test you know for those chemicals and publish their results on a

state operated website and if they met certain thresholds then they would be required to notify all of their customers in writing um you know about

exceeding those thresholds. Um, that bill, like a lot of my colleagues bills, uh, died on the committee floor. It it

it went to a committee, was never never had a hearing, never had a vote, didn’t go anywhere. Um, and and I I don’t think

we’re trying to be very political here, but I have to point out that a lot of the representatives from northeast Northwest Georgia, uh, up there in the

Dalton area, where, you know, they’ve been polluting the rivers and and the the water system up there for decades.

Um they were actually introducing bills to to let those companies off scot-free, right? To prevent any kind of legal

action. Um and and I I I mean I don’t know what else to say about that. I mean we we need change in the

state house for because good bills like mine go to committee and die. Bad bills like that one I don’t think that actually came to the floor for vote

either. So thankfully that one died too, but it should have never been out there. Um I’ll leave it at that. working.

Yeah, this one this one has the lapel mic though.

Okay. Oh, okay. Okay. Um, yeah, I I agree with what they say. Uh,

we have to regulate um just letting corporations run rough shot over us so that they can make more money at the

expense of our health, uh, of our water safety, of the water our children is drinking every day is is completely

[gasps]

nuts to me. Um, that’s one of the reasons I’m running is because it is so important um to make sure that everything that’s coming from our state,

whether it’s uh water, air, soil, is safe for us to use. And if the federal government is making all of these cuts, then we have to bump up our regulations

in Georgia. Um, they’re making cuts to the FDA, the EPA, the CDC, uh, HHS, and and we have to, uh, expand funding to

our agencies in Georgia that can protect us. Um there’s nothing more important and I obviously expanding Medicaid and

expanding our health uh care program overall in Georgia is going to be so important with this. But you see you see

things like this happening all the time um where the water is bad in the town and it’s just left to be bad and and nobody ever comes in and fixes it. And

it’s a lot cheaper to fix it than it is to have thousands of people go through lifelong medical issues because of it.

Um, so I fully believe in taking care of people over profits.

Great. Thank y’all. Environmental harms are not distributed evenly. Landfills, industrial plants, and waste treatment

facilities disproportionately placed in communities of color and lowincome neighborhoods. For example, the Pitted Road and Pinewoods communities here in

Athens have struggled to gain access to safe drinking water for decades. Such environmental burdens cause generational health and economic impacts.

How will you address environmental injustice in your district?

Yeah, so I I struggled with this question when I filled [clears throat] out the questionnaire. Um, that was a very hard questionnaire, by the way. I haven’t had a test like that since

college. Um, but to to try to answer the question, um, that’s absolutely right. I

mean, that communities of color, communities that that have less in lower incomes are are typically, you know,

they they they pay the price more than other communities. Um, and and I think that the best way to address that would

be to pass some of the legislation we’ve been talking about here, you know, reducing the amount of water consumption and and monitoring for these forever

chemicals and things like that so that any community is going to be safe. Um, but until we get there, I I think um,

you know, a lot of that stuff kind of it it kind of falls to the local level and and I’ll be honest, I don’t know what we can do at the state level to really help

that, but I’m definitely open to any ideas. Um, yeah, I think I’ll leave it at that. I’m not sure how to how to directly address that.

Ray probably does though. Well, it’s Suzanne’s turn.

Oh, yeah. Um, yeah. So, I think that’s the question. I I I we also struggled um kind of knowing exactly how to say,

well, are you going to move a neighborhood? Are you going to move a garbage dump? Um which is basically impossible at this point. But I believe

that nobody should be suffering uh because of where Georgia chooses to make it less safe for them because they have

a lower income level. Um that every everyone is equal in the state, no matter uh what background you come from,

no matter how much money you make. And just because you live somewhere and you can’t afford to live in a big wealthy neighborhood does not mean that your

water should be poisoned. So I am all for passing legislation like we said before to uh regulate these systems and

to spend money in Georgia to get in and fix the problems where they are. um if if you know water systems need to be

replaced or if soil treatment plants need to be moved or you know they they have to pick up the cost if they’re

sitting there making all this money off of uh you know our land and our water and our soil they they have to

make the advancements themselves and we just have to like I said we just have to regulate it. Um the whole deregulation thing that’s been going on in Georgia because we’re the best for business.

Okay, sure. But we need to be the best for the people that live here. Um we can do both. It it doesn’t have to be one or the other. We just have to make it safe

for people to live here. And I don’t think that um it’s it’s right the way that people low-income people uh neighborhoods of color are so

disproportionately affected by this. So I’m here to fight for those communities.

Yeah. So, this was a challenging question and so I called a friend of mine that works in environmental compliance for landfills. Um, and he was

a wealth of information. Um, there is a landfill expansion project at Oak Grove

um, that’s in my district right now. And what he was telling me is that there are some safeguards that are currently in

place. You know, there are um, you know, site studies that have to be done. uh if any federal uh grant money is involved

uh in many cases you have to do equity action plans. Of course, our current federal government, I’m sure, is trying to get rid of anything that has the word equity equity in it. Um but of course,

if the federal government is not going to be doing that, we need to be doing that ourselves. We can have the um EPD

enforce those things at the state level as well. um making sure that’s on and

you know these community benefit plans or you know comprehensive um studies to see if these projects are

having an undue impact on certain communities. Those things are really important when we’re doing site selection for these things. Um in terms

of uh you know Pitted Road uh and and um the Pinewoods neighborhood that does

come down to some local decisions that were made like water access is mostly a local issue but at the state level we

can provide additional expertise. We can provide additional funding to help expand water systems to neighborhoods that are in need, additional water testing, things like that. Um, and I’m

in favor of supporting those to make sure that our communities are taken care of, particularly our historically disadvantaged communities that time and

time again have had to bear the costs of corporate expansion unfairly.

Thank y’all. Uh, the construction of data centers has triggered a call for an expansion of energy production. Georgia

and its largest energy provider, Georgia Power, deres 87% of its energy output from natural gas, coal, and nuclear sources, while 6% comes from renewables.

Georgia Power is proposing an expansion of a natural gas pipeline through Georgia and Alabama to meet their projected energy demands. However, there

are several viable options for expanding solar energy, including plug-in solar panels, agotics, and parking lot solar

systems that would give consumers power over their electricity bills.

What policies do you support to expand consumer energy choice and renewable energy?

Yes, so I absolutely support uh parking lot solar, agravalttaics. Um, Peter Hubard has a great uh suggestion about

um what’s it called? Balcony solar, which I fully support. We need to get uh past the red tape on that so that everyone in Georgia, every household can

have solar panels. Um they’re 70% cheaper than they used to be and uh we can set up an incentive system uh with

through the state to make it so that you can get solar at your house and plug into the transmission line. Um there’s no reason we should not be doing that.

Uh solar power is [gasps] the future and Georgia is the sunshine state. We get more sunshine than uh most other states

and there’s no reason that we should not just be a sea of solar panels on um on used farmlands on parking lots um the

the farmlands where the animals can graze underneath. There is a million places where we could be uh taking advantage of solar power that we don’t.

And I think for Georgia Power we need to be going in the opposite direction. uh solar power needs to be the 90% and uh

natural gas needs to be the 6%. And I think we need to basically incentivize and pass legislation to say that Georgia

Power has to start working towards that in a certain amount of years. Um renewable energies are the future and natural gas needs to start being phased out.

First, we need to um restore the Consumer Utilities Council with the Public Service Commission. So, for those of you that may not know, that is an

automatic intervenor in any regulation uh decisions that the public service makes. And their job is to advocate on behalf of us, the consumer, the voter.

Um we used to have it, we don’t anymore.

I wonder why. And I wonder why things have been moving in the direction they have. Um so, that’s first and foremost.

Uh, obviously I’m in favor of expanding rooftop solar and community solar uh, programs. Plug-in solar as long as we have uh, you know, proper safety

regulations in place because it can be dangerous to linemen that are working um, if you’re feeding power back into the grid from a house. Um, agotics is a

win-winwin. We have uh farms that are struggling in Georgia because of a variety of environmental issues whether

that’s uh tariffs making their inputs expensive or you know weak consumer prices making it difficult to sell their products um and agix gives them an

additional source of revenue particularly in in my district where a lot of what we do is um cattle and poultry and so you can have grazing

animals actually underneath the solar and you get to have productive land that’s also producing solar panel and supporting the local community that way.

Um, we can look at Texas as a perfect example. You remember uh the T Ted Cruz Cancun trip when the grid was crashing?

We haven’t heard that much lately about Texas power grid crashing. It’s because they’ve built more solar than any other state in the country, but they don’t

like to talk about how much solar has helped them. Um, and Georgia is a perfect candidate for that kind of thing as well. We have lots of sunshine and we should be expanding it.

Yeah. Um, so I’m glad you covered agotics. Um, because I I I went last week actually and I met with a farmer who’s doing it right now. I went to a

facility. It’s a 30 acre plot that had solar panels on it. Um, he had sheep, he had goats, he had cattle, he had donkeys

out there. I mean, it was so cool. And it was explaining to me that it’s really kept him afloat. So, there’s an economic benefit to that as well. Um, plug-in

solar. I actually introduced, well, I co-sponsored a bill last year for plug-in solar. Um, it got some media attention, had one hearing where Georgia

Power and the EMC’s came in and just jumped all over it and killed it. Um, so if you want to ask why we are where we

are, it’s Georgia Power. It’s the power companies. Uh, they stand to lose money if we grow, you know, solar energy in

this in this state. Um, and that’s 100% the reason they’ve got 25 lobbyists down there in in Atlanta, uh, talking to us

every day and and showing up at at committee hearings like that to make sure these things don’t get anywhere.

But we’re going to keep trying and when we get the right people in power, we can finally make some changes here.

Um, man, I could talk all day about solar and renewables. I mean, I I am a big fan. I already mentioned, you know,

we have pro, you know, manufacturers here in the green energy space that would benefit as well. So, I mean, we could create jobs, we can deal with our energy issues, we can help our farmers.

It’s kind of a win-winwin. It’s a no-brainer, and there is one reason that we’re not doing it right now.

Great. Thank you all so much. Uh, we’re going to move to the portion of the evening where we read your questions to

the candidates. Um, [clears throat] our first question was submitted as part of the RSVP process. Um, how do you all

feel about reestablishing municipal power utilities? And we’ll start with Rey this time.

So, to be honest, I don’t know a ton about municipal power utilities. Um, so I’ll let somebody else start and

maybe I’ll follow up after that. But I I’m willing to admit when I don’t know something, but I will definitely look into it and try to learn more.

Yeah, I I don’t know much about this one either. I I think there are some places in Georgia where they’re still allowed, right? Where there is still in place.

Yeah. And if anyone who wrote this question wants to elaborate. Um so I mean I’m real quick.

Yeah. My understanding is there are there are some municipal power utilities that do exist um where

but correct me if I’m wrong. That was my impression, but again, I don’t really know exactly how they fit into the broader

I’m the originator of that question and I meant more like we used to have an Athens power

of you know municipalities could control their power locally and with the establishment of the public service

commission and the um the one utility and many smaller EMC’s they eliminated

local communities ability to control their power. And so, thank you for coming back.

Yeah. Um, I would have to look into it more to see the pros and cons of of, you know, why that shift was made. I’m sure some of it

was, you know, driven by economics and those kinds of things, but there may also have been good reasons in terms of economies of scale and those kinds of

things. Um, you know, Georgia has a regulated monopoly in Georgia power and it doesn’t have to be a failing system,

right? If we properly regulate it, then it can have those economies of scale to make power cheap and reliable for people

uh without it, you know, being this boogeyman that it’s become. Um but maybe having municipal uh control over our

certain c certain aspects of our power grid could be a part of that solution so that those municipalities have a little bit more control over um the prices that

the uh locals are paying and the types of energy that is provided to them. But I’d have to look into more into it more to to tell you more.

Yeah. Um just kind of riffing here. Um I I what I see is you know they they

probably went away because you had more centralized production that had to be distributed around and that makes sense for a Georgia Power or an EMC or

something to do. Um, but if we’re talking about expanding solar, you know, energy, uh, generation here in the state

of Georgia, even, you know, wind or or, you know, whatever other renewables might be out there, I think we we probably are talking more about bringing

back community solar and and having it run by municipal utility, I think, makes a lot of sense on the surface. Um, I definitely have to do more research on

that because I’m I’m talking about things I don’t know about here. Uh but but I think you know one of the one of the one of the reasons that that Georgia

Power and the EMC’s are kind of pushing back on solar you know it is the money but it’s because they’re not going to be generating anymore. You know they would

be expected to maintain this grid but but it would be distributed generation which really makes an awful lot of sense. So I I think it’s definitely

something we should look at. Um, and just because I’ve got 30 seconds left, I would also say, you know, Georgia Power is is is a reason the big reason for why

a lot of these things aren’t aren’t happening. And I would just ask everyone, do your research before you go vote. Look at who’s contributing to the

candidates on your ballot. And you’re going to find Georgia Power back in a lot of them. And they’re not the ones at this table.

Uh, yeah. So, I absolutely agree with breaking up giant monopolies, especially when my power bill keeps increasing 15%

every couple of months and Georgia’s going through an affordability crisis.

Um, and Georgia Power is making multibillions in profit every single year. Uh, yeah, I 100% think that we

should be regulating it a bit more and the public service commission can decide whatever it wants as far as Georgia Power goes. And I 100% agree that uh

local municipalities having uh solar power, you know, distribution would be amazing. Um I I’m uh you know, we’re on

Jackson EMC and I know there are some EMC companies, but uh they their prices go up, too. I mean, I think that they’re just competitive with Georgia Power or

whatever. And uh yeah, I I I do not agree with how much um well, we had the

six rate hikes over the past three years with Georgia Power that the Republican le public service commission kept uh

voting to approve and um after Peter Hubard got on, we’ve got uh two more on the ballot for uh this midterm. So, we

should do everything we can to get them both elected. And I think we could definitely make some changes there. But yeah, I I would love to see Georgia

power broken up a little bit and for um local towns to have a bit more control over

their power. I think that um the bigger you get, the more money you make, the uh less people have a say and the more we

all get charged. So yeah, anything we can do to combat that because the affordability crisis is affecting us all right now.

All right, thank y’all. Okay, we’re on to question number two. If around 90% of land is privately owned by businesses

and individuals, how do we incentivize conservation and resilient solutions as tax incentives?

Say that one more time. If around 90% of land in Georgia is privately owned by either businesses or individuals, how do

we incentivize conservation and resilience solutions as tax incentives?

tax or perhaps how do we use tax incentives to incentivize um conservation and

resilient solutions being um use of private land for solar that sort of thing.

Yeah, I mean I the answer’s kind of in the question, right? I mean tax incentives for uh land usage that could

be preserved as you know farmland or um land that would be like rented to the

solar companies. I know that the agricult is already doing that in some farmlands and in some areas of the state and I fully support that. I think that

is a great idea. um any any land that’s not in use and can be [sighs and gasps] generating power or helping uh land

owners or towns uh generate some of some of their own money so that they can get some of this uh cost burden off of them.

Obviously, I’m going to be for that. Um it all comes back to the affordability crisis. So, anything we can do to help

out people or farmers with uh price reductions with solar power, I I fully support. And

um [snorts] I think it’s very important also to preserve land. Uh I know that we we do that with farmland already and that’s a

big issue in Okone County. And I I really like the idea of of coming to the state and saying, you know, I’m I’m never going to do anything else with

this land except farm it. So, I’m going to get a tax incentive for that and uh it’s a way that I can keep this in my family and continue to make money off of

it. And yeah, I think that’s a great thing, too.

Yeah. Um there are a couple of programs that already exist. KUVA and FIPA. So, conservation use value assessment and forests land

preservation assessment or agreement, something like that. Um but they’re programs that exist specifically for this purpose. um at

least in the in terms of um assessing value for property taxes based on the

production value of the land. So the timber on it or its farm production value rather than its um development

value. So what you could you could sell it for $32 million to a big developer and they’re going to you know come in and build something huge um like a data

center. Um so obviously supporting those programs. There’s actually a constitutional amendment that’s going to be on the ballot uh expanding um KUA to

from 2,000 to 4,000 acres. Um I still have not decided how I want to vote on that. I’ve heard conflicting stories

about whether it’s a way for developers that are holding long-term uh to hide and not have to pay their property taxes

while they’re holding it long term and then they sell uh for a profit later.

But also there are massive farms in South Georgia that are well above 2,000 acres that are productive timber farms.

Um I only have 15 seconds. So conservation of natural land because we’ve only talked about um farmland.

Our natural places are some of our most important uh reservoirs of biodiversity and it is essential that we protect those places. I’m not sure off the top

of my head um what programs are available for protecting those things in terms of tax incentives specifically, but I do think it’s very important that

we protect those spaces for future generations um for our health and of course for the health of our environment.

Uh yeah, I I don’t remember exactly what FIPA stands for either, but I know it [clears throat] has to do with forest protection. Um, and Kuba, I mean, those

are essential programs that are are pretty much underfunded every year. Um, so, you know, the state putting more

money into those programs could help preserve more and more of that land. Um, and the KUA one in particular, it it’s

not just used for I mean, the ballot question this year is limited to timber production. Um but but the Kuvo program

itself, it covers, you know, natural lands as well as farmlands. Uh is my understanding. Um could be wrong on

that. I’m not an expert. But I’ll also mention um you know, a lot of a lot of local, you know, counties have easement programs. They work with places like the

Athens Land Trust. Uh I know the Athens Land Trust has some I think the the county they have the most uh easements

in in the state of Georgia is Okone County. Um, and Athens Land Trust actually works all around the state, not just the Athens area. That was a

misnomer for me. But, um, so I think that that’s one I think, you know, again, I was very impressed with the Agravalttaic installation that I saw.

Um, that to me seemed like a win-winwin where you didn’t really even need the state. Um, because the landowner has a 30-year lease with the solar company.

They came out, they put the solar panels on there, they fenced it in, and then they hired this farmer for vegetation

management, and he does it with his his livestock, and you’re getting grass-fed meat, you know, so everybody kind of wins. And and I asked him like what what

could help him um and you know, maybe some tax credits and things particularly around like drilling a well because he’s got to bring water into some of those

places that is kind of a pain. So, you know, tax credit for putting well on a system like that to support Agra Voltics, I think would be it would help a really great program.

Thank y’all. Um, I’m getting this question from a computer. I don’t think the tech billionaires want this computer

to work. So, data data center impacts it extend well beyond local borders. Should

local governments have any final say about approvals? Yes. What was the first part of that?

Data center impacts extend well beyond local borders. Should local governments have any final say about approvals?

Who’s going first? Yeah. Who’s last time? Sure. I I’ll I’ll start. Yeah.

Um I am a big believer in local control for most things. I think the state’s role in a lot of this is to set

guidelines uh so that you know businesses aren’t you know

pl coloring outside of the lines so to speak. Um I I’m not sure exactly what the what the

real question is. Is it is it asking whether local governments

have final say? Should I should I ask a question? Yes, please.

It strikes me that what data centers consume are resources that extend well beyond any property border or any town

borders. Why are we letting the local towns let developers dictate to them a situation that would let them approve

something that’s going to damage the rest of us? It’s not a local issue. Why should we be thinking of it that way?

Sure. Yeah. I think especially when we’re talking about um the effects on our utilities um and the massive amount

of additional generation that Georgia Power is planning to build to um accommodate all these new data center

constructions. Um you know I think that in a perfect world governments should

have the final say on any large development project like this. Maybe there should be an upper threshold where if it has a large enough impact, uh

there does need to be a referendum or maybe it has to uh go to I I’m not sure exactly, but definitely

the state should step in and have guidelines in place to force some of the worst behavior that maybe it is

beneficial to that local community and maybe they are getting sufficient tax breaks um to offset property property taxes for the locals that it’s worth it,

but those negative externalities are falling on people outside of that community, and that is the state’s job to make sure that those don’t happen.

So, definitely we need to make sure that these large developments are not um having an undue impact and having those negative externalities affect surrounding communities.

Yeah. Um I think it’s a great question and I hadn’t really thought about it in in those terms before. Um, but it it

kind of gets the wheels turning. So, uh, I mean somewhere, like I said, in between, you know, what we’re doing right now and a moratorum, something like that could fit in. And maybe it is

like a, you know, if if the facility has a certain footprint, you know, size or higher, uh, or is expected to use a

certain amount of energy or more or water or more, um, you know, it triggers some kind of approval process at the state. I mean, I I could see us doing

that and it seems like maybe the public service commission could fit in there.

um to take that on. Um I I think it’s a it’s a it’s a good idea, but I because I mean the point is if if it’s left to a

local government, you know, a local county board of commissioners to decide this and they’re seeing the tax revenue,

you know, they’re kind of incentivized to to approve it. Um and maybe even offer tax abatements to where they delay

any benefit they may get. Um but yeah, if they’re selling someone else literally down the river, um that’s that’s certainly something we need to,

you know, be aware of and and have controls in place for. Yeah.

[snorts]

Yeah. I Yeah. Um they they should have control. Absolutely. There’s a lot of ways to make money in our state that we

are not utilizing um that we could be at the state level and at a local level.

And I don’t think that data centers are the answer that so many people seem to think that they are. Um, and especially

considering uh the environmental effects and and every part of our life that they affect and you know if you live near one

and you didn’t want it and then your property value drops and you’ve got this constant noise pollution and you didn’t have any say on whether it’s there or

not and ultimately you may have to move to, you know, just deal with your life.

Uh, that’s insane to me. I I I absolutely think that the people in um that that live near these things or that are directly affected by them should

have a say. Uh it’s kind of hard to know exactly how to make that happen without say putting it on the ballot in your

county, you know. Um apart from that, I think that the moratorum and and really getting a handle on finding out what the

effects are because we haven’t really done that in Georgia. we haven’t stopped and said, “Okay, what is the effect of, you know, of everything that they cause

our state?” Um, I think like Eric said, it’s just a lot about the money and and you know, there there are plenty of other ways that we could be headed in

the state like solar power, like recyclables, like uh legalizing marijuana. There’s there’s a lot of things we could do in the state to make

money besides just selling our natural resources up the river. So, I absolutely agree that people should not be forced

to live somewhere. um that they’ve lived forever that all of a sudden it’s just taken over by one of these, you know, giant data centers.

Great. Thank you all. Thank you so much to our audience members who contributed the questions. I’m so sorry we cannot get to all of them tonight because it’s

already 700 p.m. Um and thank you all to our candidates for um participating in the democratic process. Um we’d like to

give you each a minute to wrap up with some closing statements. Thanks. And I I guess we start with Eric.

Hey everyone. Um so one one minute one and a half minutes. Um yeah, I’m I’m Eric Gler. I am running for reelection

for House District 121. Uh I’ve had one session, you know, under my belt now and I’ve seen that we need to there’s a lot

of work to do in Atlanta. So I’m asking for your vote if you live in district 121. If you don’t live in 121, don’t vote for me. that’ll cause problems for

all of us. Um, but I’m asking for your vote this uh October 13th. Remember, the election begins October 13th. It ends November 3rd. And the earlier you vote,

the better. Um, I I I would just uh also ask you, like I said, look at who’s funding the people on the ballot. That’s

going to tell you an awful lot about what their values are. Um, and oh, what was the last thing I was going to say there?

He’s a great guy.

I’m kind of forgetful though. So, um, yeah, I’m Ray Smith, uh, Senate

District 46. It’s the southern part of Athens, all of Okone, Walton, Barrow, and Gwynette. So, it’s quite a large

district with a lot of different communities. Um, I didn’t talk about the my policies very much in the opener, so I’ll just quickly run down the laundry

list of things that I want to try to get done. Uh, we’ve got to expand uh raise the minimum wage. We need better access to health care. Um whether that’s

expanding Medicaid to improve affordability or improving access, incentivizing doctors and nurses to move into rural areas. Half of our counties

don’t have a practicing OBGYn and 10 of our counties don’t have a practicing physician at all. Um that is a crisis

not waiting to happen. That is a crisis currently happening and it is the result of decades of inaction on the part of

our state government. So, those are some things. Uh, also, we need to fully fund our education program. Um, we need

access to child care. There are so many things. People always say, “Pick three.” I’ve only got 15 seconds left. Um, there are 25 things. I’d love to talk to you

about it. Give me a call. My phone number’s on my website, but uh, votemith.com. I’m Ray Smith and I would be honored to receive your vote in November. Thank you.

Yes. Thanks y’all. Yeah, definitely vote for both of these guys. we’re on the same page about pretty much everything.

And I’m Susan Kotasis. I’m running for House District 120. And I can tell you that if our counterparts had showed up here, they would have given opposite

answers to most everything we said. Um, I’ve heard it floated in circles among them that they would like to do away with property taxes and replace uh local

funding with data centers. Um, straight up. And in Jackson County, for instance, uh I’ve heard it suggested they want to

put one there. one of the really big AI data centers that, you know, takes five million gallons of water a day and the entire Jackson County only uses three

million gallons of water a day. So, I am very much against that and um [snorts] I agree with Rey, you know, on all of his

points. Uh expanding Medicaid, raising minimum wage, expanding education funding. We have to do all that. Uh Georgia needs a lot of work because it’s

been under control for 20 years uh of the other party and and any problems that could have been fixed would have

already. So uh we are where we are now and it’s time for change so that we can actually start helping people.

Well, thank you again to our candidates for [applause] round of applause.