Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr., a former longtime state representative, first joined the Public Service Commission in 1998 and returned by election in 2008, making him one of its longest-tenured members. He calls himself “the godfather of Georgia solar” and has been the commission’s most frequent dissenter on how high Georgia Power’s profits are set.
Office & background
- PSC Commissioner, District 4 (1998–2002; 2009–present)
- Georgia House of Representatives (~20 years)
Campaign finance — who funds them
$48,691 raised · $6,759 cash on hand (McDonald for PSC)
- $2,000Harrison, John (Ellijay, GA)
- $500Obrien, James (Glenwood, GA)
- $500Chickamaugua Telephone Corporation (Bay Springs, GA)
- $300Pam Hibbs (Trenton, GA)
- $300Jones, Elizabeth (Trenton, GA)
- $300Ridge, Vicki (Rising Fawn, GA)
Finance as of May 7, 2026 — latest GA Ethics filing (2026 Apr 30 CCDR).
Source: Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission (PeachFile)
Where they stand
Framed the PSC’s 2025 large-load rule (special billing for customers over 100 MW) as protecting ratepayers from cost-shifting. In May 2026 he voted with the Republican majority to approve a Georgia Power fuel-cost deal while the commission opened a separate probe of how fuel costs are split between large industrial and residential users.
Source: 11Alive — PSC data-center rule · GPB — PSC backs disputed fuel dealWas the lone “no” vote on the December 2022 4-1 rate-plan decision, objecting that the profit cap was set too high. In July 2025 he joined the unanimous base-rate freeze through 2028, but first moved to lower the utility’s profit cap — a motion that died for lack of a second.
Source: GPB — 2022 Georgia Power rate hike · Grist — rate freezeGenuinely distinctive on solar — in 2013 he led the 3-2 vote expanding the Advanced Solar Initiative by 525 MW as a market-driven, no-subsidy approach, and credits his record with helping make Georgia a national solar leader.
Source: SACE — where McDonald stands on energyA strong nuclear advocate who calls nuclear solar’s “best partner” and favors retiring uneconomic coal and preferring solar to gas (“Fuel from the sun is free”); he nonetheless joined the unanimous 2025 IRP extending coal and gas for data-center load.
Source: SACE — where McDonald stands on energyThe only sitting commissioner who voted in 2009 to build Vogtle Units 3 & 4; he defended the project before the December 2023 vote passing ~$7.56 billion of costs to ratepayers, saying Georgians would “enjoy the benefits for the next eighty-plus years.”
Source: Georgia Recorder — $7.6B Vogtle tab to ratepayersThe commissioner most publicly critical of Georgia Power’s profit level: the lone 2022 dissenter (wanting the earnings cap at 11.5% rather than 11.9%), and in 2025 he again unsuccessfully moved to trim the ROE cap. The 11.9% allowed return is well above the ~9.5% industry average.
Source: GPB — 2022 rate hike (McDonald dissent) · The Current — Georgia Power profit shareHis affordability stance comes mainly through his profit-cap objections — arguing the company’s profit was set too high — and he backed the 2025 freeze partly as ratepayer relief. No McDonald-specific position on disconnections was found.
Source: Grist — rate freezeAcknowledges climate concerns but frames Georgia’s approach in market terms — “Climate change is bigger than Georgia” — noting the state pursued carbon-free nuclear and solar “without waiting for the EPA.” His climate record is essentially his pro-solar, pro-nuclear advocacy.
Source: SACE — where McDonald stands on energy