Georgia Democratic Official Arrested, Charged With Felony Theft

Georgia Power has accused a former Democratic candidate for Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC) of stealing trade secrets.

Patty Durand was arrested on Tuesday by Georgia Capitol Police and charged with felony theft, according to a report from Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB).

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. The report also noted that Durand opposes the centers as well as potential rate hikes, and that she runs a watchdog group known as Georgia Utility Watch.

Video footage from the day of the hearing reportedly shows Durand, wearing a brown jacket, approaching a desk and picking up a booklet before setting it back down and walking to the other side of the room.

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Moments later, the footage appears to show Durand taking another booklet from a different desk, placing it in her bag, and leaving the room.

In an August interview with GPB, Durand criticized what she described as a lack of transparency in Georgia Power’s agreements with data centers.

“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 remains unclear what officials believe Durand intended to do with the materials she allegedly took. Georgia Power is cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation, according to Fox 5.

The Georgia Recorder reported: “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.”