A familiar face is returning to the Georgia Public Service Commission after Gov. Brian Kemp announced he will appoint former commissioner Stan Wise to fill a vacant seat.
Wise will replace Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, who is resigning from the commission effective Sept. 4. Wise will serve the remainder of Pridemore’s term, which expires Dec. 31.
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The appointment brings Wise back to the regulatory agency where he spent 24 years. He served on the PSC from 1995 to 2018 after winning statewide election four consecutive times and served as chairman multiple times.
Pridemore succeeded Wise as the District 5 representative.
“Thanks in part to his fortitude and far-reaching vision, Georgia has an incredible economic asset in the form of the first nuclear reactors built in the United States in over 30 years,” Kemp said in announcing Wise’s appointment. “That kind of courage and foresight is what is needed to keep our state the best place for opportunity.”
During Pridemore’s eight years on the commission, Kemp credited her with helping Georgia expand its energy production and strengthen the state’s power grid while working to protect consumers.
Wise currently works as an associate with the Atlanta-based Pendleton Group, an economic development consulting firm. He will step down from the firm when he is sworn in.
Wise has extensive experience in Georgia government and utility regulation. Before joining the PSC, he served on the Cobb County Commission, Cobb County Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. He also served on the Atlanta Regional Commission from 1992 to 1994.
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He was elected president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners by his regulatory peers in 2003 and was appointed to the National Petroleum Council by then-U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in 2016.
Wise also owned and operated an insurance business in Cobb County for 20 years and served six years in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
The Georgia PSC regulates Georgia’s electric, natural gas and telecommunications utilities, making the commission’s decisions important to consumers and businesses across the state.
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