Birmingham, AL – Energy Alabama opposed Alabama HB 392 when it tried to make the Public Service Commission fully appointed, and we opposed the final version of Alabama HB 475 when the state Senate stripped out mandatory rate proceedings and profit limits and replaced them with a Governor-appointed Secretary of Energy who controls the commission’s agenda and staff.
A federal lawsuit filed yesterday challenges the structural changes of the enacted version of HB475 on constitutional grounds. We learned of the filing of this lawsuit this morning. The provisions being challenged are the same ones we warned would hand two officials in the executive branch – the governor and the energy secretary – effective control over the body that sets Alabama Power’s rates. Alabamians, who’ve been paying record-high electric bills while Alabama Power’s profits doubled, deserve something better than a law that enacts regulatory capture. We welcome judicial review of this law.
