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.
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.”
Durand, who earlier this year founded Georgians for Affordable Energy, a watchdog group, alleged during a public hearing Tuesday that Georgia Power is prioritizing profits for its five affiliated gas companies by building new natural gas power plants rather than investing in solar energy and battery storage, the outlet added.
She said the company should be held accountable for what she described as 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 at the time, per the Recorder.In a statement per the Daily Mail 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.”
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 campaign website includes a photo of her alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who has been described by critics as a “pro-abortion radical.” According to a report from Breitbart News, Ossoff previously hired an aide with open-borders views as his senior counsel before the current government shutdown, in connection with efforts to expand health care access for illegal aliens.
“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,” Breitbart noted.
Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, another Democrat, was convicted of felony burglary in July, more than a year after she was caught breaking into her stepmother’s home.
Mitchell was arrested in April 2024. She claimed she entered the residence to retrieve belongings that had belonged to her late father, and said her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
When Silence Shattered: The Texas Highway Shooting That Changed Everything
It started like any other drive down a sunlit Texas highway—peaceful, uneventful. Then, without warning, the calm was ripped apart by the sharp crack of gunfire.
In an instant, the quiet afternoon erupted into chaos. Tires screeched, people scrambled for cover, and a simple journey turned into a nightmare no one saw coming.
What followed—captured in a haunting audio recording—has left both investigators and the local community searching for answers amid the shattered calm.
A Scene Frozen in Fear
The peaceful hum of traffic was shattered by the unmistakable sound of bullets tearing through the air. A raw recording reveals the panic that ensued: officers barking orders, terrified voices crying out, and the desperate screech of tires as drivers fled the scene.
“Get down! Get down!” commands echoed urgently, quickly drowned out by the frantic shouts of “Shots fired!”—a chilling soundtrack to a moment that changed everything.
Witnesses struggled to process the horror. “They shot my dad!” one terrified voice cried out, tears mixing with the noise of sirens and shouting as strangers became heroes, rushing to help amidst the confusion.
Conflicting Accounts, Unfolding Truth
As police moved quickly to secure the area and hunt for the shooter, the scene was clouded by uncertainty. Some witnesses insisted the man involved was armed, while others firmly believed he wasn’t. The truth lay tangled beneath the chaos.
Investigators now pore over bodycam footage, forensic evidence, and eyewitness testimonies—each piece a part of the puzzle that must be solved to uncover the full story of that fateful afternoon.
The Lingering Echo of Trauma
For those caught in the middle of the violence, the memories remain raw and unyielding. “I still hear those shots in my head,” one shaken witness admitted, their voice heavy with the weight of trauma.
That haunting audio has become a somber reminder of how swiftly ordinary moments can be transformed into scenes of tragedy—and how, afterward, the path forward demands truth, compassion, and understanding.
Conclusion: A Community Bound by Hope
The shooting on that Texas highway stands as a stark symbol of life’s fragility—how everything can change in a heartbeat. Fear may have divided those present, but courage and solidarity have also emerged.
As the investigation continues, the community holds fast to hope: hope that justice will illuminate the truth, and that empathy will heal the wounds left behind. For those who lived through that terrifying day, the echoes remain—a solemn call that healing begins not in silence, but in the courageous search for truth.