Georgia State AG Says Public Utilities Commission Cannot Direct Fine Money To Care Net Pregnancy Centers

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Thursday that the Georgia's Attorney General, Sam Olens, has advised the Georgia Public Utilities Commission that it lacks authority to approve a proposal by two GPUC members that would have diverted a $10,000 fine imposed on a telephone company to Care Net, a religious pregnancy counseling charity with ties to the two commissioners who back the plan.  While the Public Utilities Commission can enter settlement with companies under which they agree to alternatives to a fine, it is required that there be a connection between the proposed use of funds and the violation.  So customer refunds, or training to prevent natural gas accidents would be permissible. But here the connection is not clear.  Commissioner H. Doug Everett who proposed the plan (and whose wife works as an unpaid Care Net volunteer) says there is a connection. One of the violations for which Peerless Network of Georgia was cited was a failure to ensure the confidentiality of family violence shelters. Commissioner Tim Echols, a Care Net advisory board volunteer who received consulting fees from the parent organization in 2006, supports Everett's plan, with the condition that if it does not pass, the settlement would direct the $10,000 to charitable medical clinics for expanded broadband access.