THE ARCHITECTURE OF POWER

Why Utility Regulation is the Ultimate Small Business Risk Metric

BY H. DEWAYNE JOHNSON

Founder, President & CEO | Southern Georgia Black Chambers, Inc.

Commercial electricity is not an incidental overhead line item—it is an inflexible, non-negotiable operational fixed liability.

When commercial kilowatt-hour rates climb, operating margins compress, working capital runway tightens, and the capacity of an independent enterprise to hire local talent is directly threatened. For small business owners across South Georgia’s 19-county footprint—from commercial bakeries and HVAC operators to light manufacturers, logistics hubs, and retail storefronts—utility volatility operates as an unlegislated tax on enterprise growth.

On Monday, October 19, 2026, the Southern Georgia Black Chambers convened its signature Small Business Roundtable for a sterile, data-driven dissection of Georgia’s energy landscape. Hosted live from our virtual technical lab, the session featured licensed Professional Engineer, power plant designer, and candidate for the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), Dr. Josh Tolbert, PE, PhD.

The residency brought together regional founders alongside national institutional leadership from the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), represented by Chamber & Business Engagement Manager Phillip W. Dunn.

Rather than engaging in rehearsed campaign talking points, the dialogue interrogated the regulatory frameworks, capital procurement mechanics, and monopoly oversight structures that dictate what Georgia businesses pay to keep their lights on.

1. The Technical Deficit on the Public Service Commission

The Georgia Public Service Commission is tasked with regulating billions of dollars in multi-decade utility infrastructure projects: determining what generation assets are constructed, where transmission lines are sited, when capital expenditures are authorized, and how those costs are passed down to residential and commercial ratepayers.

Yet, despite the immense technical complexity of these determinations, there is currently not a single engineer serving on the five-member Commission.

Dr. Tolbert, who holds four engineering degrees (including a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering) and brings more than 15 years of industry experience developing power plants and industrial energy efficiency systems, addressed this structural void directly:

"The decisions we make at the Public Service Commission will last for decades. They cannot simply be flipped around or reversed in two years. Yet, these decisions are being made without a single engineer on the commission. While the PSC has technical staff below them, a regulator’s ability to govern is directly tied to their capacity to understand the proposals, question assumptions, and challenge utility models."

— Dr. Josh Tolbert, PE, PhD

Under true CEO Logic, delegating ultimate decision-making to non-technical politicians who rubber-stamp utility proposals creates an institutional moral hazard. As Tolbert emphasized, technical competence on the dais is essential to call "balls and strikes" strictly in the financial and operational interest of Georgia ratepayers.

2. Simulating Market Pressure on a Natural Monopoly

In a competitive market economy, consumer pricing and service quality are disciplined by consumer choice: if a vendor inflates prices or degrades service, the customer transitions to a competitor.

Because electric utilities operate as state-sanctioned monopolies with captive geographic territories, that natural market check does not exist. Tolbert offered a defining diagnostic test for effective regulation:

$$\text{Regulatory Standard} = \text{Would the utility execute this same decision if the consumer had an alternative?}$$

"If the answer is no—if the utility would make drastically different capital or operational decisions under competitive market pressure—then the utility is under-regulated. The role of the Public Service Commission is to step into that void and forcefully simulate those market pressures on behalf of the public."

Tolbert argued that when regulators fail to enforce that discipline, monopolies naturally prioritize guaranteed return on equity (ROE) on capital buildouts over operational cost-containment for everyday consumers.

3. Commercial Bidding Parity & "Black Box" Interconnection Barriers

A pivotal moment in the residency emerged when Phillip W. Dunn of the U.S. Black Chambers challenged Dr. Tolbert on his platform pledge to demand competitive procurement and cost transparency:

"You’ve committed to demanding transparent cost estimates and competitive procurement. How will you ensure businesses affiliated with the Southern Georgia Black Chambers and our minority business ecosystem are included in procurement opportunities that protect ratepayers?"

— Phillip W. Dunn, U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.

Tolbert dissected a significant barrier currently handicapping independent contractors and renewable energy developers during the utility's Request for Proposal (RFP) cycles: arbitrary, back-end interconnection costs.

When Georgia Power solicits third-party bids for commercial solar and grid buildouts, independent firms must submit firm bids without knowing what the utility will charge to physically interconnect their project into the high-voltage transmission grid.

"That interconnection charge is treated as a black box. The independent bidder doesn’t know what it will cost until the end of the process, when an arbitrary cost is tacked on. As business owners, you know it is nearly impossible to submit a competitive, bankable bid when an unknown, unverified cost can be dropped onto your ledger at the eleventh hour. We must eliminate black-box fees and enforce transparent, predictable bidding rules."

By removing artificial bidding friction and lifting the veil on fully redacted contracts, the Commission can lower wholesale procurement costs while opening the door for qualified regional and minority contractors to compete.

4. Grid Hardening vs. Ratepayer Affordability in South Georgia

Addressing the severe infrastructure devastation left across South Georgia by Hurricanes Idalia, Debby, and Helene, SGBC Board Member and Brand Ambassador Kristina Cheek questioned how the Commission can insulate rural power grids without driving small businesses into financial insolvency.

"Here in South Georgia, we’ve experienced catastrophic back-to-back hurricanes resulting in prolonged outages and massive recovery costs. How will you ensure South Georgia's grid becomes resilient and disaster-ready without placing an unfair financial burden on small businesses?"

— Kristina Cheek, SGBC Brand Ambassador

Tolbert outlined a two-sided engineering and economic balance:

• The Front-End Capital Trade-Off: While burying distribution lines underground eliminates wind and tree-fall damage, the astronomical capital expenditure required to underground entire rural transmission corridors would trigger massive rate hikes that Georgia small businesses cannot absorb. Hardening must be applied surgically in high-vulnerability corridors, balanced against everyday rate affordability.

• Aggressive Preventative Maintenance: The vast majority of storm outages are triggered by leaning poles and unmitigated tree canopies. Tolbert cited recent multi-week municipal grid failures (such as Nashville's 13-day winter storm blackout) where utility executives arbitrarily curtailed vegetation management budgets to show short-term savings, resulting in catastrophic grid collapse when tree limbs snapped. Routine preventative trimming and proactive pole replacement are non-negotiable operational defenses.

• Workforce Mutual Aid Protocols: Restoring power safely and rapidly requires pre-negotiated, cross-state lineman deployment agreements. Acknowledging that his brother-in-law serves as an active lineman, Tolbert stressed that utility operational plans must ensure frontline restoration personnel receive the logistical support, staging, and crew reinforcements required to restore commercial corridors within hours, not weeks.

5. Hyperscale Data Centers: Ending the Commercial Cross-Subsidy

Georgia has rapidly emerged as a primary national hub for hyperscale data centers and artificial intelligence server farms. While these developments bring headline capital investments, their continuous, round-the-clock megawatt demand consumes massive reserves of grid capacity.

Tolbert established an uncompromised policy stance: Large industrial power users must pay their full freight.

Under current utility proposals, the massive capital required to construct new peaking plants, substations, and transmission lines to feed hyperscale data centers risks being blended into the broader rate base—effectively forcing main-street retail, restaurants, and medical practices to subsidize tech conglomerates.

Tolbert proposed that hyperscale industrial users be required to self-fund dedicated off-grid power solutions or enter into ring-fenced, non-subsidized commercial contracts where third-party independent power producers are permitted to bid freely against Georgia Power to construct and supply that power.

6. Solar Equity: Closing the Net Metering Gap

For South Georgia businesses seeking to insulate their balance sheets through on-site solar generation, current regulatory tariffs create an extreme economic penalty.

Tolbert broke down the math behind Georgia’s current solar buyback model:

Tariff Component	Rate ($ / kWh)
Cost to buy 1 kWh from utility	≈ $0.20 / kWh
Credit received for sending 1 kWh back	≈ $0.07 / kWh
Net Ratepayer Squeeze (Per kWh)	- $0.13 / kWh

Under this structure, commercial operators forfeit $$0.13$ in value on every exported kilowatt-hour.

Tolbert advocated for universal 1:1 Net Metering, allowing commercial and residential operators to net their incoming and outgoing kilowatt-hours equally. Establishing equitable net metering creates competitive market incentives, rewards business owners who invest in their own capital resilience, and reduces peak strain on Georgia’s transmission grid during high-demand summer afternoons.

The Executive Verdict: Enforcing the Standard

The Southern Georgia Black Chambers maintains a strict non-partisan posture. We do not endorse political parties; we interrogate economic policies, audit regulatory frameworks, and demand measurable results for Black and minority-owned business ecosystems.

The technical insights delivered by Dr. Josh Tolbert reinforce an undeniable economic reality: regulatory policy is enterprise destiny. Business owners who treat utility rates as an uncontrollable expense surrender their operating margins to institutional complacency.

As we navigate our Year of Execution, the SGBC will continue to hold statewide decision-makers, regulatory candidates, and utility partners accountable to data, facts, and economic transparency.

To review Dr. Josh Tolbert’s full regulatory platform, visit TeamTolbert.com. To

access upcoming SGBC Small Business Roundtable sessions and technical residencies, visit www.sgablackchambers.org/events.