Longtime utility watchdog Patty Durand says she is being locked out of the building where Georgia’s power politics play out, and she is taking the fight to court.
Durand, founder of Georgians for Affordable Energy and a regular at state utility hearings, filed a lawsuit this week saying a Georgia State Capitol Police lieutenant blocked her from entering the State Capitol. She says that ban keeps her from attending Public Service Commission meetings where decisions that affect customers’ electric bills are made.
According to the complaint, Durand received a text from Lieutenant Jason Hayes telling her she was barred from the Georgia Capitol and warning she would be arrested if she tried to enter without an escort. The suit says her pretrial bond only required her to stay away from the PSC’s office, not the broader Capitol grounds, and argues that the wider restriction is unlawful, as reported by Atlanta News First.
Durand told Atlanta News First that PSC decisions touch every Georgia customer’s electric bill and that open access to hearings is crucial for holding regulators and utilities accountable. She says the ban effectively chills her ability to petition state officials and speak at public hearings.
Durand was arrested in October 2025 after video from a Public Service Commission hearing showed her taking a booklet labeled “Georgia Power Trade Secrets,” according to reporting at the time by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Capitol Police, a unit of the Georgia State Patrol, arrested her near the PSC’s downtown offices after the hearing.
Fulton County prosecutors later declined to pursue the felony trade-secret charge, saying the notebooks were not kept secret enough to meet Georgia’s legal test. Durand completed community service and a theft-awareness class under the case resolution, as reported by Georgia Public Broadcasting.
What the lawsuit says
In the complaint, Durand argues that Capitol Police have singled her out and that the ban violates her First Amendment right to free speech and her right to petition state officials. A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Safety declined to comment when asked about the lawsuit, according to reporting by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Why access to PSC hearings matters
Advocates and transparency groups have repeatedly raised concerns about Georgia Power’s broad use of trade-secret labels to shield cost and demand data from public view. Critics say that practice narrows oversight of decisions that can saddle ratepayers with long-term costs. That transparency fight is central to Durand’s activism and helps explain why she has made a habit of showing up at PSC hearings, local reporting has shown.
What happens next
The lawsuit is now pending in Georgia courts and could force a judge to decide whether Capitol Police may restrict public access beyond the terms of a pretrial bond. For now, Durand says she is asking the court to restore unfettered access to hearings that shape utility policy and customers’ monthly bills.
