Electric Life: Utility Regulation and the Fight for Energy Democracy — Nikki Luke in conversation with Brionté McCorkle

This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/electric-life. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event.

Charis welcomes Nikki Luke in conversation with Brionté McCorkle in celebration of Electric Life: Utility Regulation and the Fight for Energy Democracy.

Electric Life traces the intertwined history of Atlanta’s racialized uneven development and growing electricity use to show how electricity infrastructure shapes everyday life. Nikki Luke looks at how quotidian relationships with the electric utility catalyze intersectional organizing for energy democracy. She also investigates the legal and material construction of the investor-owned utility as a regulated monopoly and the state public service commission that regulates it.

Contemporary organizing for energy democracy questions how the utility and the systems that govern it need to change to ensure energy affordability, provide remedy and reparation for enduring environmental and energy injustice, and build a just and equitable energy transition from fossil fuels. Bridging urban, environmental, and labor studies, the author demonstrates how these demands to change the utility emerge from the tradition of civil rights, labor, and environmental organizing for fair treatment from the utility, affordable energy, protection from pollution, and good jobs.

About the Author

Nikki Luke is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Tennessee. Her research examines labor, energy, and environmental justice in the U.S. South. She has a PhD in Geography from the University of Georgia. She is the author of Electric Life: Utility Regulation and the Fight for Energy Democracy.

About the Conversation Partner

Brionté McCorkle believes in a healthier, more vibrant future for all people and the planet. She is dedicated to teaching people how to self-organize and build strategic partnerships to protect the environment, advance racial equity, and grow civic engagement. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Georgia Conservation Voters, where she works to advance a healthier, cleaner, and more affordable future by advancing climate and environmental justice policies, electing pro-environment candidates, and holding elected officials accountable for their actions and votes.

Brionté earned a B.S. in Public Policy from Georgia State University and minored in Spanish. In 2014, she led the Georgia Sierra Club’s efforts to expand MARTA into Clayton County. In 2020, Brionté was a plaintiff in a historic federal Voting Rights Act lawsuit (Rose v. Raffensperger) challenging Georgia’s at-large election method for its Public Service Commissioners. She went on to make history again, leading the effort through GCV and the GCV Action Fund, to win the 2025 Georgia PSC elections by 26 points, enabling the election of the first black woman to the statewide commission.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.

In-person event guidelines:
– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.
– We will begin seating people at 1:30 PM ET.
– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/electric-life
– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.