Patty Durand, who unsuccessfully ran for the Georgia Public Service Commission as a Democrat, was arrested for stealing Georgia Power's trade secrets, Breitbart reported. Durand was arrested on Tuesday and charged with felony theft after she allegedly took a booklet from the energy company and left the room with it during a public hearing.
The power company is in negotiations with the local government to increase power production for data centers. Durand, who runs the energy watchdog group Georgia Utility Watch, opposed the move and the rate increases it would bring.
In August, Durand slammed Georgia Power for not being forthcoming with information about its proposal. "The Public Service Commission allows very heavy redactions and trade secrets. So the contracts between Georgia Power and the data centers are also redacted and trade secreted. So no one will know what they actually charge data centers," she said in an interview.
The Public Service Commission held the hearing with Georgia Power over its proposal to generate another 10,000 megawatts of power and pump it into the Peach State's power grid. The company plans to generate about 40% from renewable sources, with the rest coming from building or expanding gas-generated power plants.
For her part, Durand charged that the company was more interested in its natural gas profits than in any public service, as Georgia Power oversees five gas companies. She believes that is why other options, such as battery storage and solar panels, weren't pursued to the same extent.
She believes this shows the company is somehow unethical and is engaged in "immoral" actions, which is ironic considering what she's been accused of doing. "There is no court in the land that would allow that kind of corruption to go on, and I have no idea why the state of Georgia does," Durand said.
Some believe Durand's opposition is warranted, given that customers are already feeling the squeeze of rising energy prices without this new, significant draw on demand from the power grid. "The cost of living has gone just insane right now," Harriet Reddan, a Georgia Power customer, told WAGA-TV.
She and others like her have seen an increase, with Reddan reporting that her bill went from around $100 last year to $140 this year. "It’s hard. It’s not easy. It’s good to add more data centers — but not good to be passing that on to the customer," she added.
The power company's proposal hinges on the idea that these data centers will definitely come to Georgia. "It’s a good idea if we need it. But so far, we don’t," Jennifer Whitfield, who is a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, told the news outlet, noting that they may never come.
"Right now, we are planning additional power for companies that may or may not actually demand energy on the grid, and that creates real risk for customers who are currently paying bills today." This would mean that everyday consumers would foot the bill for the expansion to accommodate something that may never happen.
"If all the data centers come to Georgia that Georgia Power is hoping for, bills should stay stable. If data centers don’t appear the way Georgia Power is expecting, all of us are going to be on the hook," Whitfield added.
Regardless of the merits of the argument, the fact remains that Durand allegedly stole from the company during a hearing that she would have overseen had she won her election. "Patty Durand built her brand attacking the Public Service Commission, and now she’s been arrested for stealing from it," Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon noted.
The debate over adding data centers that increase energy demand and the pricing residents face is worth having. However, that will be impossible if people like Durand allegedly don't act in a moral way to get it done. There's no excuse for lowering standards and violating ethics regardless of the issue.
