What the Georgia Election Could Mean for the Energy Sector

January 6, 2021

We are still waiting for confirmation regarding who will be in control of the U.S. Senate. But, as each of the Georgia races near their end, it appears as though Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will defeat the Republican incumbents. The fate of Georgia’s energy sector hangs in the balance along with Republican’s control of the Senate.

Mark Jones, a political science fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University, very plainly discussed what these races mean for Georgia’s natural gas and oil industry.

“We’re unlikely to see legislation that adversely affects the fossil fuel industry if Republicans continue to control the Senate,” said Mark Jones, a political science fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University. “If, on the other hand, the Democrats control the Senate, we are much more likely to see legislation that would adversely affect oil and natural gas and provide benefits and subsidies for renewables.”

The state of Georgia is also a huge energy consumer and often uses more energy than the state itself can produce. 

In 2019, Georgia ranked 9th in the nation in electricity net generation and 7th in retail sales of electricity. Because the state uses more electricity than it generates, Georgia receives additional electricity from other states.

A radical, immediate shift to renewable energy is only going to further complicate Georgia’s demand for energy. Hopefully Ossoff and Warnock have learned from California’s regular state-wide blackouts and recognize the value and necessity of fossil fuels.

Georgia needs reliable, consistent energy to keep its economy moving forward, along with the reliable, consistent jobs that a thriving natural gas and oil industry produces. If the Senate is to pass any eco-left legislation that jeopardizes these jobs, revenue, or sources of energy, it will only be making an already difficult recovery from Covid-19 even worse.