Peter Hubbard

Who they are

Peter Hubbard (D) is the sitting Georgia Public Service Commissioner for District 3; he took office January 1, 2026 and his current term ends December 31, 2026, which is why the seat is on the 2026 ballot (Ballotpedia). He won the seat in a special election on November 4, 2025, defeating Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson with about 60.7% — part of the first Democratic statewide wins in Georgia since 2006 (Georgia Recorder, 11/5/2025). His official state biography lists 16 years in the energy industry, work developing solar and battery-storage projects, and the 2019 founding of the nonprofit Georgia Center for Energy Solutions (Georgia.gov). He holds degrees from the University of Memphis and a master's from Johns Hopkins, and lives in Atlanta (Ballotpedia; guides.vote; AJC candidate guide, 6/2026).

Identity confirmed: This is the incumbent District 3 commissioner and 2026 Democratic nominee — confirmed by the state's official commissioner page (Georgia.gov), Ballotpedia's office/district listing, and AJC reporting that he ran unopposed in the May 19, 2026 Democratic primary (AJC, 5/20/2026).

Positions

• Power bills (his top message) — Candidate's own words: his stated campaign messages are "I will stop the increase in power bills" and "I will shine sunlight on bad deals" (Ballotpedia Candidate Connection). His 2026 re-election site frames the race as "prioritizing lowering power bills instead of constantly increasing corporate profits" (campaign site).
• Energy mix / clean energy — Candidate's own words: he says Georgia Power can meet growing demand with clean resources rather than gas, and that the PSC should set the agenda rather than react to the utility: "We're always reacting to what Georgia Power is putting in front of us" (Canary Media, 10/31/2025). He has said he'd like Georgia "to get to 30, 40, or 50% solar" before more expensive resources (guides.vote).
• Fossil fuels and nuclear — Candidate's own words: he says he is "not simply anti fossil," but is concerned costs to public health and climate aren't counted; he sees benefit in nuclear units but says construction costs should not have been "borne by the rate payers" (guides.vote).
• Stronger utility oversight (business & regulation) — Reported: he has criticized past rate hikes and said bills can be lowered by shifting away from fossil fuels, adding renewables, and limiting Georgia Power's guaranteed profit margin (Georgia Recorder, 11/4/2025). As a commissioner he proposed an amendment requiring investigation of Georgia Power's costs and practices before certifying a new rate agreement (guides.vote).
• Data centers / new technology (regulate early) — Candidate's own words: he questioned a PSC rule leaving it to the utility to decide what data centers pay: "the discretion to decide what is fair for a data center to pay, that lies with Georgia Power" (The Current, 10/28/2025). He moved to decertify generation approved for projected data-center demand, arguing "My proposal is not anti-growth… It is pro-consumer, pro-law, and pro-common sense" (FOX 5 Atlanta, 2/24/2026).
• Transparency in decision-making — Candidate's own words: he said the December 2025 approval by outgoing commissioners "lacked adequate transparency and deliberation" and was "a slap in the face to the ratepayers" (WRDW, 12/22/2025).
• Taxes & spending — No public position found. The PSC does not set taxes, and no sourced statement on state taxes or budget levels turned up in this search.
• Energy burden / low-income bill relief — A clean-energy advocacy group reviewing his record wrote it could not confirm his position on energy equity or energy burden in published media, records, or his campaign site (SACE, 8/19/2026) — this is an advocacy group's characterization, not a candidate statement.

Record

In office since January 1, 2026; the commission has a 3–2 Republican majority (AJC, 2/19/2026).

• Feb. 18–19, 2026 — Georgia Power expansion: The PSC rejected environmental groups' request to reconsider its approval of the data-center-driven generation plan (AJC, 2/19/2026). Hubbard's separate motion to decertify some of the approved power sources was also rejected (FOX 5, 2/24/2026); the reconsideration vote failed 3–2 on party lines (Wikipedia summary of Savannah Morning News, 2/19/2026).
• May 28, 2026 — fuel and storm cost case (Dockets 56765 / 44280): The PSC approved a settlement cutting the typical residential bill about $4/month (~$285 million a year) and reducing storm-cost recovery by nearly 60% (GPB, 5/29/2026; Georgia Power release, 5/28/2026). Hubbard voted for final approval but his amendments — to investigate fuel transportation costs, hedging, and $152 million in coal operation, and to withhold $15.2 million pending justification — were defeated by the three Republicans (Sierra Club release, 5/28/2026; Rough Draft Atlanta, 5/29/2026). He said his amendments would have saved ratepayers another $50 million (Rough Draft Atlanta).
• Before office: He intervened in PSC proceedings and served as an expert witness beginning in 2019 (Georgia Recorder, 11/4/2025), and worked as a renewable energy project developer while running the Georgia Center for Energy Solutions (Capital B Atlanta, 6/4/2025).
• Endorsements listed: Sen. Raphael Warnock, the Georgia Democratic Party, Fair Fight Action, Georgia Conservation Voters, Georgians for Affordable Energy (guides.vote).

Money

Georgia PSC candidates file with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission (state ethics commission); this race is not federal, so there is no FEC filing. I could not retrieve the filing pages directly, so the figures below come from news outlets and a watchdog group reading those filings.

• 2026 cycle: A utility-watchdog analysis published Aug. 21, 2026 found Hubbard had $6,500 from three donors it identified as associated with PSC-regulated entities, the largest being $5,000 from engineering-firm founder Stanley King; the same analysis found utility-associated donors supplied about 70% of opponent Fitz Johnson's large contributions (Energy and Policy Institute, 8/21/2026) — this is an advocacy/watchdog group's analysis. I did not find a reported 2026 total raised or cash-on-hand figure.
• 2025 cycle (for reference): Before the Nov. 4, 2025 election he reported a war chest of $229,641, versus $185,102 for Fitz Johnson, per ethics commission documents (GPB/The Current, 11/3/2025). Earlier in that cycle he had raised $24,775, of which about 6% was tied to regulated companies (Energy and Policy Institute, 8/18/2025); his June 2025 filing showed $35,200 raised, $35,000 of it a loan to himself (Atlanta Civic Circle, 6/12/2025) — see Atlanta Civic Circle and the original report at Atlanta Civic Circle, 6/11/2025 (note: the live link for that story is here).
• Figures are current as of the filings reported above; new disclosures closer to the Nov. 3, 2026 election will likely supersede them.

Recent news

• Nov. 4–5, 2025 — Won the District 3 special election with roughly 60.7%, flipping the seat (Georgia Recorder).
• Dec. 19, 2025 — The outgoing all-Republican PSC approved Georgia Power's ~$16 billion generation expansion days before Hubbard was seated (AJC); Dec. 22, 2025 — Hubbard publicly called the timing "a slap in the face to the ratepayers" (WRDW).
• Feb. 19, 2026 — PSC declined to revisit that expansion; first major test of the two new Democrats (AJC).
• May 20, 2026 — Advanced to the general unopposed in the Democratic primary; Fitz Johnson won the GOP nomination, setting up a rematch (AJC; 2026 election summary). Before the primary, Johnson faced a residency challenge that a judge rejected (same source).
• May 28–29, 2026 — Voted for a rate-reducing fuel/storm settlement while losing his accountability amendments 3–2 (GPB).
• Aug. 19 and Sept. 14, 2026 — A clean-energy group published a candidate issue profile and later hosted a webinar featuring him on PSC decisions and electric bills (SACE profile; SACE events listing).

What we couldn't find

• A 2026-cycle total raised and cash-on-hand figure, or a direct link to his filings on the Georgia ethics commission's database.
• Any sourced position on taxes, state spending, or non-energy issues.
• A sourced position on energy burden/bill assistance for low-income customers (an advocacy group also reported being unable to confirm one).
• A Vote Smart profile or candidate questionnaire beyond Ballotpedia's.
• Specific criticism of Hubbard from his opponent's campaign in this cycle; no such reported statements surfaced in this search.
• Detailed positions on telecom, broadband, or railroad matters also under PSC jurisdiction.

Search conducted Sept. 22, 2026; items filed or reported after that date are not reflected.