Former candidate arrested for taking trade secrets from power plant headquarters
A former Democratic candidate in Georgia who openly criticized Georgia Power was arrested Tuesday and charged with stealing a notebook of the agency's trade secrets.
Patty Durand, a former Public Service Commission candidate, was taken into custody at the commission's downtown Atlanta headquarters, authorities told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Durand was charged with theft of trade secrets, according to Fulton County jail records. She's now facing a felony.
She was allegedly seen on video taking a booklet of Georgia Power information that was labeled trade secret, which included confidential materials not released to the public, according to an arrest warrant. Durand was allegedly exiting a hearing room at the agency's headquarters while testimony was underway for a case involving Georgia Power.
"Video cameras captured her reentering the room moments later and then picking up a booklet of trade secret documents from a desk, the warrant said. The hearing was adjourned at the time for a lunch break," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
She allegedly picked up a set of files and flipped through them and put them in her purse, according to the warrant.
A Georgia Power spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the company is cooperating with authorities and cannot comment on the active investigation.
“Theft or exposure of proprietary information is a serious matter. While we operate transparently, some data must remain confidential to protect customer interests and ensure we deliver the best value to all customers. Unauthorized disclosure risks harming both our company, the vendors and contractors with whom we do business, and the customers we serve,” the agency said in a statement.
Durand had founded a utility watchdog group, Georgia Utility Watch, in April, according to The Georgia Recorder. She was reportedly working to hold the agency accountable and call out the utility's focus on "expanding and extending its use of fossil fuels." She had previously alleged the company is hiding information from the public and deeming it classified.
In June, the organization she founded "was one of several groups that tried to force some PSC commissioners to recuse themselves over comments and appearances they made touting a preliminary agreement to freeze Georgia Power’s rates."
As of Wednesday morning, her bail had not been set according to the Fulton County inmate website. She was at the site Tuesday for a hearing and spoke.
“It is unfathomable to me why anyone listens to Georgia Power’s lawyers, staff or witnesses about anything,” Durand said. “Their claims about cost and demand growth have no credibility because nothing they’ve said in the past has proven to be even close to true.”