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An activist who was accused of stealing trade-secret information from Georgia Power will not be prosecuted, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a filing this week.
During a Public Service Commission hearing in October, activist Patty Durand was arrested and accused of stealing a notebook containing contract and pricing details that Georgia Power withholds from the public. The company says they’re trade secrets. Durand was charged with a felony.
But the Fulton DA’s office found Georgia Power’s “trade secrets” aren’t legally all that secret. The numbers are available to the commissioners and to interested parties who sign a nondisclosure agreement, and the company “relies on the honor system” to ensure the parties return or destroy the information, according to the filing. Copies of the trade secret figures also sit in a public hearing room where they could be easily seen or taken.
The DA’s office also said the theft did not result in financial harm to Georgia Power. Taken together, that means the information doesn’t meet the standard required to prosecute Durand for the felony of theft of trade secrets, according to the filing, which was first reported by the Georgia Recorder.
