ATLANTA(TNS) —A clean energy watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against Georgia energy regulators and an elected member of the agency’s board for allegedly violating the state’s open records law.The Energy and Policy Institute, a California-based nonprofit, alleges Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore uses personal email accounts and her cellphone for public business. The PSC’s five elected board members set rates for utilities, including Georgia Power, and the board also regulates telecommunications companies.Pridemore and the Public Service Commission failed to turn over public records the nonprofit sought from Pridemore’s personal accounts in violation of the Georgia Open Records Act, according to the complaint filed Dec. 19 in Fulton County Superior Court.
The Open Records Act requires public agencies to respond to records requests within three business days and to provide records as soon as they are available. Sunshine laws in Georgia generally provide that all communications among public officials are public records, and the laws have been interpreted by the state attorney general’s office to cover personal communication devices if those devices are used to conduct public business.State law allows the courts to impose civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation for any person “who negligently violates” the provisions.The complaint includes documentation of email correspondence to Pridemore’s personal accounts the institute said it received through records requests it made to other states. An Energy and Policy Institute official also witnessed Pridemore using her phone, including to send text messages, during a June conference of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the lawsuit states.The complaint names Pridemore as a defendant in her individual and official capacities, alongside several unnamed commission staff who handled the requests. It seeks an injunction requiring regulators to comply with the Open Records Act, as well as civil penalties for the defendants and recovery of legal fees for the plaintiff.PSC spokesman Tom Krause said the agency and commissioners do not comment on pending litigation. Pridemore said Thursday she had not been served a copy of the complaint and also declined comment citing pending litigation.The Energy and Policy Institute states its mission is to “expose attacks on renewable energy and counter misinformation” by fossil fuel and utilities. The group has sued regulators for public records in other states, including Tennessee and Indiana, with mixed results.In June, Daniel Tait, the group’s research and communications director, requested copies of text messages sent and received during the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners conference and a document Pridemore was seen reading off her phone during the conference, the suit said. In response, the PSC provided
Sab. Gen 4th, 2025
