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.”
The report continued:
Durand, who this year founded Georgians for Affordable Energy, a watchdog organization, claimed in her comments during a public hearing earlier Tuesday that Georgia Power is prioritizing profits for its five affiliated gas companies in building natural gas power plants instead of focusing more on solar panels and battery storage. She said that Georgia Power should be held accountable for its “immoral” actions.
“There is no court in the land that would allow that kind of corruption to go on, and I have no idea why the state of Georgia does,” Durand said.
In a statement following her arrest, Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said, “Patty Durand built her brand attacking the Public Service Commission and now she’s been arrested for stealing from it,” per the Daily Mail.
He added,
This is the same failed Democrat PSC candidate who parades around as a so-called ‘watchdog’ while caught on video taking confidential Georgia Power materials. While Republican leaders are working to keep energy reliable and affordable for Georgia families, Democrats like Durand are sneaking around government offices and walking off with stolen documents.”
Durand’s website features a photo of her with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) who has been called a “pro-abortion radical” and who hired an open borders aide as his senior counsel prior to the ongoing government shutdown to give illegal aliens health care, Breitbart News reported.
“Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and other Democrats have admitted the Democrats shut down the government in part to make it easier for illegal aliens to secure taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits,” the outlet said.
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