A vocal critic of Georgia Power is under arrest for allegedly stealing trade secrets

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ATLANTA (AP) — A vocal critic of Georgia Power Co. was arrested Tuesday on felony charges that allege she swiped the company's confidential information from a desk during a break in a regulatory hearing.

Georgia Capitol Police arrested Patty Durand of Mableton, Georgia, and charged her with felony theft of trade secrets, booking her into the Fulton County Jail. Online records showed Durand remained jailed on Wednesday afternoon with no bail set and she didn't immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.

The law carries penalties of between one and five years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.

Durand sought to run for Public Service Commission as a Democrat in 2022, but the election was never held because of litigation over whether statewide elections were racially discriminatory. After that, Durand founded Georgians for Affordable Energy to carry on with her advocacy against Georgia Power, the state's only privately owned electric utility. The company, with 2.3 million customers, is the largest subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co.

Durand has long complained that too much information is kept private through trade secret designations in proceedings before the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power's rates and must give approval before the utility can build new power plants or transmission lines. The utility says releasing that information could put it at an economic disadvantage.

“The lack of transparency with this commission the worst in the country with heavy redactions and trade secret designations on nearly everything,” Durand wrote in an email to The Associated Press in December 2024.

Tuesday, Durand spoke at a Public Service Commission opposing Georgia Power's request to build a series of new natural gas-fired power plants. After that, as the commission broke for lunch, a warrant alleges that Durand was captured on video looking at a booklet labeled “Georgia Power Trade Secrets.”

The warrant alleges that Durand set the booklet down, then went to a second desk with the same booklet, put it in her purse and left the meeting room.

It's unclear who discovered the booklet was missing or called Capitol Police, who provide security at the state Capitol and in adjoining office buildings. Tom Krause, a spokesperson for the Public Service Commission, said the commission didn't file a report or ask for an arrest, saying only “this is a matter for law enforcement.”

Matthew Kent, a spokesperson for Georgia Power, said the company is “cooperating with law enforcement,” but declined to comment further or say whether the utility had asked for Durand's arrest.

“Theft or exposure of proprietary information is a serious matter,” Kent said in a statement. “While we operate transparently, some data must remain confidential to protect customer interests and ensure we deliver the best value to all customers.”