It’s not every day that Alabamians get to hear from the President of the Public Service Commission. Alabama’s Public Service Commission is the elected body charged with regulating Alabama Power and ensuring that customers get fair and reasonable utility rates. So when Twinkle Cavanuagh spoke on a recent podcast with 1819 News, we might have expected a frank discussion about why our state’s electricity bills are so high and the PSC’s role. Instead, listeners got cherry-picked economic claims, misleading claims about coal, and outright falsehoods. This, unfortunately, does not come as a surprise given that Alabama’s Public Service Commissioners get almost fifty-five percent of their campaign financial support from fossil fuel and utility interests.
So let’s set the record straight.
1. Alabama’s “High Bills” Are a Reality – and So Are the High Rates
In her interview, Commissioner Cavanaugh brushed off Alabama’s notoriously high electricity bills, attributing them solely to heating and cooling demands (as if Alabama is the only state with warm summers) and policies from the Biden Administration. However, this sidesteps a crucial fact: Alabama’s residential energy bills exceed the national average by $32 a month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Commissioner Cavanuagh’s claim on the podcast that “Alabama is below the national average” on rates is simply false. Alabama Power’s rates are around the national median. Even more troubling, The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal utility with Biden-appointed board members, delivers power to many North Alabamians at 30% cheaper prices than Alabama Power.
Alabama’s Public Service Commission, under Cavanaugh’s leadership, has approved numerous rate increases for Alabama Power, all of which are shouldered by ratepayers. In 2022, Cavanuagh’s “Administration” approved four rate increases for Alabama Power, and they continue to allow the utility to “recover” a wide range of expenses from ratepayers, beyond fuel and standard operating costs. These costs can include executive compensation, and public relations spending, none of which are reasonable costs to keep the lights on. In other states, many of these expenses are absorbed by shareholders, but in Alabama, they’re shifted directly onto residents through higher bills.
2. Falsehoods on Utility Rate Audits and Alabama Power’s Earnings
In her interview, Commissioner Cavanaugh claimed Alabama conducts “rate audits” daily (a physical impossibility), yet Alabama hasn’t held a formal rate case since 1981. The PSC reviews annual reports but, without thorough audits, a utility like Alabama Power operates with minimal oversight, freely adjusting rates and boosting profits without sufficient regulatory checks. Who knows what could be in Alabama Power’s books? The Public Service Commission doesn’t seem to know either. But whatever it is, you’re paying for it.
This lack of formal rate cases also keeps Alabama Power customers from having a meaningful voice in the process. The Alabama PSC does not allow open hearings for rate adjustments and no opportunity for public comment allowed at monthly meetings. In short, it is simply impossible to know whether or not Alabama Power is charging customers for things it shouldn’t. Cavanaugh says we should just trust her and the other Commissioners.
Cavanaugh’s statement that “Alabama Power’s operating budget has only increased four times since 2010” is also wrong. In recent years, the PSC has approved several cost-recovery requests, including rate multiple increases from 2020 to 2024. Residential customers of Alabama Power were hit with four rate increases in 2022 alone. Just last quarter, Alabama Power’s parent company, Southern Company, reported $1.5 billion in net income and almost $4 billion year to date. The year isn’t even over yet.
Alabamians aren’t just paying high bills due to “higher energy use”; they pay more per kilowatt-hour than most neighboring states, largely because regulatory decisions continually prioritize Alabama Power’s profits, and Wall Street investors, over consumer affordability.
Alabama Power’s profits are some of the highest in the nation in one of the poorest states in the country. The utility is quite literally profiting from poverty while the Alabama PSC looks the other way. Since 2014, Alabama Power has over profited almost $2.1 billion compared to the national median, according to reporting from the Energy and Policy Institute. The math isn’t this simple of course, but that works out to about $1400 per Alabama Power customer in EXTRA profits. In reality the more energy you consume, the more in excess profits you likely have paid.
You don’t even have to believe us here at Energy Alabama. Listen to Wall Street!
S&P, an investment financial information and analytics company, compiles a ranking of which states give utilities the best regulatory treatment. That is Wall Street code for which states give the utilities everything they want to the benefit of investors.
Where is Alabama? You guessed it. We’re ranked #1 in the country and even ranked higher than the Crimson Tide. In fact, Alabama is in its own category.
3. The Myth of “Clean Coal” and the PSC’s Coal Obsession
Commissioner Cavanaugh’s stance on coal as a “clean” energy source overlooks a wealth of evidence showing how coal harms not just the environment, but also Alabamians’ health and household budgets.
Her comments about “fighting for coal” as the fuel source Alabama “needs” ignores the serious risks coal poses to the lives of those in coal-producing areas and those who breathe the air downwind from coal plants and who drink the water from intake sources near coal mines. Coal miners, who have helped power Alabama for decades, face chronic health hazards, like black lung disease, silicosis, and increased risk of lung cancer, due to prolonged exposure to coal dust.
Today, coal is among the most expensive methods of generating electricity, driven by maintenance costs, health risks, and environmental liabilities. Compared to renewables like solar and wind, which continue to fall in cost, coal plants require extensive upkeep and produce expensive waste products, such as coal ash, that utilities must manage. Folks near the Mobile Bay are living near almost a quarter of all the coal ash in the state, which is already poisoning groundwater, and residents are hoping disaster doesn’t strike. Guess who pays for the PSC’s bad decision making on coal and coal ash management? You. The cost of energy for coal now significantly exceeds that of wind and solar, meaning coal-based electricity often drives up utility rates rather than bringing them down.
4. Solar and Agrivoltaics: A Missed Opportunity
Cavanaugh dismissed solar energy as ineffective, claiming it doesn’t work “on a cold winter morning when it’s too cloudy” as if batteries do not already exist. She says solar wastes land that “should be growing vegetables and fruit,” which would be funny if it weren’t sad that Alabama Power taxes distributed energy like solar if you instead try to place solar on your roof.
Cavanaugh’s comments show her deep misunderstanding of both solar technology and the value of grid diversification. Solar energy can offset peak demand and reduce reliance on costly, polluting fuels. Also, batteries do indeed exist and can store power for use on cold winter mornings. Innovations like agrivoltaics—where farmers integrate solar panels into their farmland—enable land to be used BOTH for solar power and agriculture, benefiting the local economy.
Farmers across the Southeast are seeing real economic benefits by leasing their land for solar, such as additional income that helps to keep farms operational and communities stable. By ignoring these facts, Alabama’s PSC president perpetuates an anti-solar stance that blocks an affordable, renewable solution for Alabama’s future. A stance that continues to keep Alabama behind other Southern states that are successfully utilizing solar energy.
Our Conclusion
Alabama families deserve an energy system that prioritizes transparency, accountability, and fairness—not a blank check for profit-driven utilities. The Alabama Public Service Commission’s inaction in the face of unchecked rate hikes and inflated utility profits undermines the wellbeing of the very people it’s meant to protect. For too long, the Commission has enabled Alabama Power to operate without meaningful oversight, driving rates far above those of neighboring states and ignoring the struggles of everyday customers. True oversight and regular rate cases aren’t just formalities; they’re essential protections for Alabama families. It’s time to hold utilities accountable to the people they serve.
