About the Project
Each state in the U.S. has a board responsible for regulating utilities, such as electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, and water. Known as public utility commissions or public service commissions, these small but powerful panels make major decisions that drive the cost of electricity, the future of renewable energy, and how much fossil fuels a state burns. But many voters have no idea who the commissioners are, what they do, or how they’re selected. Georgia is one of the states where the PSC is directly elected, although elections were delayed for years in the face of a lawsuit over voting rights. (They’re finally happening this year.) Its commission is a prime example of how lesser-known elected positions can have an outsize impact on climate policies.
Throughout 2024, Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station, collaborated on a major project to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission for community members in the Atlanta area, as well as in Macon and Rome. To ensure our journalism reached and involved residents who face major barriers to accessing accurate, consistent information, here’s what we did:
- Partnered with local community groups to host listening sessions. In March, Grist hosted four community listening events — one in Macon, two in Atlanta neighborhoods, and one in Rome — in partnership with local organizations and institutions to ensure our journalism reaches and involves residents who face major barriers to accessing information. We also created and distributed 500 fact sheets, in Spanish and English, at the listening sessions. Read more here. These were held in person at places people felt comfortable, offered food, and we paid community members in gift cards to attend because we know how valuable their time on a weeknight is.
- Reported stories in direct response to questions and ideas we heard at the community meetings. There were six in all, which included: a timeline of key decisions the PSC has made over the years; a breakdown of a Georgia Power bill and how to understand the line items; an explainer on coal ash and how PSC decisions impact its cleanup; a glossary of terms related to the PSC. Reporter Emily Jones also separately continued reporting regularly for WABE on the PSC throughout 2024.
- Ran a paid journalism training program where four community reporting fellows from around Georgia created their own projects about the PSC. Over six weeks, Grist reporters and editors held weekly training on a variety of topics, including editing, photography, fact-checking, public records, and writing.
- Created print brochures to hand out in communities we served. These were made in collaboration with organizers, community members, and other experts. Our fellows, as well as Canopy Atlanta, a community-centered journalism organization that serves Atlanta, and Eco-Action, a local environmental justice group, distributed these. Grist sent 1,000 brochures to fellows and community partners for distribution across metro Atlanta, Macon, and Rome. WABE distributed 500 pamphlets in Atlanta.
