A Democrat former Public Service Commission (PSC) candidate was accused Tuesday of stealing trade secrets from Georgia Power.
Patty Durand was arrested and charged with felony theft, Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) reported Wednesday.
A hearing was held regarding “Georgia Power’s request to add two Plant Vogtles’ worth of new power, mostly for data centers,” the outlet said, adding that Durand opposes such centers and rate hikes and operates the watchdog group known as Georgia Utility Watch.
Video footage taken the day of the hearing allegedly shows Durand, in a brown jacket, walk up to a desk and pick up a booklet. However, she puts it back down and moves to the other end of the room.
Moments later, Durand approaches another desk and appears to pick up another booklet before allegedly placing it inside her bag and leaving the room.
The GPB article said:
Durand criticized the lack of transparency in Georgia Power’s agreements with data centers in an interview with GPB in August.
“The Public Service Commission allows very heavy redactions and trade secrets,” she said. “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.”
It was unclear what officials believed Durand was going to do with the material she allegedly stole, and Georgia Power is working with authorities on the case, Fox 5 reported.
According to an article by the Georgia Recorder, “This week’s PSC proceedings were held to consider a request from Georgia Power to add nearly 10,000 megawatts to the state’s power grid. About 60% of the energy requested would come from expanding or building new gas plants, while 40% would come from renewable energy.”
Hellbound and Down 