John Noel

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

John Noel

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 9, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Lake Forest College, 1994

Personal

Birthplace

Franklin, Tenn.

Religion

Presbyterian

Profession

Founder and president

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

John Noel (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Georgia Public Service Commission to represent District 4. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 9, 2020.

Noel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Noel was born in Franklin, Tennessee. He is the founding owner of Energy + Environment LLC, an energy efficiency company. He won election to represent District 44 in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2002. Noel received a bachelor's degree in history from Lake Forest College in Illinois in January 1994.

Elections

2020

See also: Georgia Public Service Commission election, 2020

General runoff election

General runoff election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4

Incumbent Lauren McDonald Jr. defeated Daniel Blackman in the general runoff election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 on January 5, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren McDonald Jr. (R)	50.4	2,234,689
		Daniel Blackman (D)	49.6	2,200,962

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,435,651
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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General election

General election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4

Incumbent Lauren McDonald Jr. and Daniel Blackman advanced to a runoff. They defeated Nathan Wilson in the general election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren McDonald Jr. (R)	49.9	2,415,248
✔		Daniel Blackman (D)	47.0	2,272,969
		Nathan Wilson (L)	3.1	151,196

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,839,413
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4

Daniel Blackman defeated John Noel in the Democratic primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Daniel Blackman	71.6	762,740
		John Noel	28.4	301,948

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,064,688
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4

Incumbent Lauren McDonald Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren McDonald Jr.	100.0	929,919

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 929,919
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Noel's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Georgia Public Service Commission election, 2018

General runoff election

General runoff election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3

Incumbent Chuck Eaton defeated Lindy Miller in the general runoff election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3 on December 4, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chuck Eaton (R)	51.7	758,553
		Lindy Miller (D)	48.3	707,267

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,465,820 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3

Incumbent Chuck Eaton and Lindy Miller advanced to a runoff. They defeated Ryan Graham in the general election for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chuck Eaton (R)	49.7	1,917,656
✔		Lindy Miller (D)	47.6	1,838,020
		Ryan Graham (L)	2.7	102,878

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,858,554
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3

Lindy Miller defeated John Noel and Johnny White in the Democratic primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lindy Miller	65.4	312,467
		John Noel	18.9	90,327
		Johnny White	15.7	74,777

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 477,571
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3

Incumbent Chuck Eaton advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia Public Service Commission District 3 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chuck Eaton	100.0	471,261

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 471,261
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Noel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Noel's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

John has always been drawn to public service and has a deep connection to the land and Georgia. This "farm-raised" environmentalist has 20+ years experience in the energy efficiency field, and enjoys his time working on behalf of others.

In 1999 he founded Energy + Environment LLC, an energy efficiency contracting company working across the US in commercial and industrial facilities making them "leaner and greener". Over the years E+E has saved customers tens of millions of dollars in energy costs and (more importantly) saved the planet millions of tons of CO2 emissions.

John served in the GA House of Representatives in the early 2000s, introduced the first LEED construction bill, and played an important role lobbying for the Georgia Clean Energy Tax Credit. He's an Al Gore trained Climate Reality speaker at events in Georgia highlighting the green economy.

An early adopter of green technology, John lives what he preaches. He drives an electric car, installed the first Tesla Powerwalls (home batteries) in Georgia and outfitted his company's office with solar. Check out this YouTube video on John that has over 75,000 views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyBO57P0wWU

John now lives in downtown Augusta, enjoys running along the Savannah River, exploring the beautiful city, occasionally with his water-loving Golden Retriever rescue, Sydney.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Utility Bill Relief (especially for the unemployed) in the face of COVID crisis
• Green Energy and Green Jobs
• Accountability for the regulated utility monopolies (we are their boss)

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Regulation

Green Energy
Climate Change

We forget that the PSC was set up a hundred years ago to be the body that watched over the utility companies that were given a monopoly. A MONOPOLY over our electric and gas service. They only answer to 5 people (the commission). We need folks on that commission that share OUR values and will tell the regulated monopolies what WE want.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The PSC is the regulatory body for utility monopolies. It tells them when to jump and how high. They can't operate (fairly) without proper oversight. And the current PSC is a rubber stamp. That needs to change.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My parents. Always leaders on environmental issues (my father is longtime chairman of the board of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy) my mother was "green" on the farm way before it was cool. I honestly think we had the first organic garden in Tennessee at that point. She's involved in the Yellowstone Park Foundation now. So many examples, instances and influences. And fellow Tennesseean Al Gore with whom I had exposure to early in my life and I sponged a lot off on environmental thinking.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

None occur to me solely. So many good ones.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Caring for the "least of these". Our job is to look out first for the most vulnerable in society and work up from there. When can still have free market approaches, we can still helpful to businesses but all that comes - first - thru the lens of what is helpful or hurtful to those struggling to get by. How can we "reasonably" help them.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Honesty to the citizenry. Calling it as you see it. Doing what is right even if not popular. The later is often easier said than done but it should be strived for. The COVID crisis illustrates this perfectly.

What legacy would you like to leave?

To make a positive impact on the environment (Climate Change) by shifting our energy production to more renewable/green sources. And to tilt the balance of power in regulation to the consumer and away from the utility.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The Spaceshuttle Challenger blew up and in the iconic words of President Reagan (who I opposed even as a child then, yet would long for today rather than the current occupant) the Astronauts "slipped the surly bounds of earth to touch the face of God". I was probably 15.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I grew up on a farm. No air conditioning, pulling weeds in an organic garden as young as I can remember. So that was probably my "first" job... As I got older a lot of other farm jobs, bushhogging, feeding the cows, tending to the chickens, all sort of stuff. Problem was, the pay wasn't very good :)
I recall the first real paying job as being a summer job during high school working as a house framer on a home building crew. We essentially constructed the wood frame of the home. From the base floor to the rafters and roof deck. It was hot and occasionally dangerous. I have the scars. I don't remember the exact amount I made, I think it was $5.50 an hour but it was an important lesson in an honest day's work, literal sweat, translating into wages to live. The value of money, of that earned dollar, was brought into clear focus. Perhaps my love for efficiency can be traced partly back to that. I'll never forget that job.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

How about a real one? Elon Musk. Oh man...

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

Watching out for the poorer consumer. The retiree on a fixed income, the single mom with two jobs.

Climate Change. What is the energy mix? Why don't we have dramatically more solar and why did it take them so long to even get where we are with solar. Why is it that my Republican opponent thinks Coal is so great?

These are all issues that are important. Hard to ID one in particular.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Much is said (by the PSC) about how they can't help with rolling out Broadband to rural Georgia. Yet, the PSC administers $25 million a year in Universal Service Fee monies for installing and upgrading antiquated landline service to those same rural areas. If 10 years ago they had begun spend that money to bring internet capable telephone service to those same areas we would now be a quarter billion dollars more on our way to more full broadband coverage for Georgia. I would immediately reallocate that money.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes.
It is said by others that if elected I would the most qualified (by profession) commissioner to sit on the commission in recent history. The political experience I've had is only icing on the cake.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

How about business experience in energy!? We've got current commissioner that are ex-carpet salesman, insurance salesman, funeral home owners, Republican party hacks and political appointees.
I have the business and energy experience to not start the job flat footed.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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External links

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• Public Service Commission of Georgia