Georgia Democrats have declared victory in the race for two seats on the state's Public Service Commission, which sets rates for electricity, natural gas, and telephone services.

On Tuesday night, health care consultant Alicia Johnson and green energy advocate Peter Hubbard were up by over 300,000 votes each to Republican incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson. By Wednesday morning, it became official. 

Echols had been a member of the commission since 2011. Fitz Johnson had never faced voters after being appointed to the commission by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2021.

Writing on Facebook, Alicia Johnson celebrated her victory, thanking her voters and volunteers "for believing in what's possible."

"I'm going to the Public Service Commission to ensure that every Georgian has a voice at the table, to lower costs, modernize our grid, and make energy policy that works for the people, not just the powerful," she wrote.

What is usually a low-turnout race that typically costs less than $500,000 turned into a multi-million-dollar race after Democrats felt they could secure a rare win on the commission, where Republicans had held all five seats. Georgia Conservation Voters Action Fund said that it would spend more than $2.2 million in the election. On the Republican side, Kemp said he was spending from his own war chest to support Echols and Johnson.

The Democrat candidates focused their campaigns on turning the election a referendum on rising electricity bills for Georgians.

"The utility bill has gone up, and it only looks like it's going to continue to go up unless you get some Democrats on the commission to start to create some checks and balance on there," DNC Vice Chair Jane Kleeb told CBS News Atlanta.

It's the first time that a Georgia Democrat has won a nonfederal statewide office in nearly 20 years.

Republican strategist Brian Robinson said that the GOP knew that they would have an uphill battle to retain the seats.

"What's driving turnout in this election is the municipal elections around the state ... So these are big Democratic population centers. So people are showing up to vote for mayor, for city council in their city, and while they're there, they're also voting for Public Service Commission," he said. "A lot of Republicans in the state who don't have elections, many of them live in unincorporated areas, don't even know that an election is going on. Georgia's have gotten used to tens of millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to target them, to tell them there's an important election and to give them messaging around it."

Why It Matters

The commission regulates prices charged to 2.3 million customers by Georgia Power, the state's only privately owned electrical utility. It also regulates two private natural gas utilities.

The PSC has approved six rate hikes in just three years, adding roughly $43 a month to the average household bill. For families and seniors on fixed incomes, those costs can quickly add up. A typical Georgia Power residential customer now pays more than $175 a month, including taxes.

Unusually, because of a voting rights lawsuit that delayed elections in 2022, the Public Service Commission races weren't overshadowed by governor or U.S. Senate contests. While Atlanta and other cities had municipal elections, the commission races were the only statewide offices on the ballot for many voters.

The win for Democrats could juice fundraising, candidate recruitment and enthusiasm going into 2026, when Ossoff will try to win reelection and Democrats will try to win a gubernatorial race for the first time since 1998.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.