Alabama Pushing for First Utility Rate Case in 45 Years After ICN Reporting

In my 11 years covering environmental news in Alabama, I’ve had sources, in and out of government, share tales of trepidation in their dealings with Alabama Power, one of the most powerful and omnipresent forces in the state.

“Were they mad?” an official in the state’s environmental department asked me nervously, when the company agreed to pay a record $1 million fine in 2018 for coal ash violations.  

Another time environmental activists recounted how a company official told them in 2015 that he would come after them “with hobnail boots” if they were too aggressive in their demand for formal rate hearings.

No matter the experience, one fact is indisputable for people living in the realm of Alabama Power.  Its bills – and its profits – are high. That’s where colleague Lee Hedgepeth and I began our reporting of the series, “Wired for Profit.”  

We examined the federal filings of the 100 largest utilities in the country and found none reported higher total residential bills than Alabama Power. We found that Alabama Power’s record high profits were ignored or even obfuscated by the Public Service Commission, the regulator that is supposed to be a watchdog for consumers.

We spoke to customers struggling to keep their lights on and some who had turned to loans or high-interest credit cards to pay their power bills. We spoke to utility experts, former PSC staffers, academics and more to explain how Alabama Power had captured its regulators.

We investigated how the company’s very expensive electricity carried a huge climate and environmental footprint. What we found was astonishing: An Alabama Power coal plant has been the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country for nearly a decade, and the company’s decision to leave millions of tons of coal ash in unlined lagoons on Alabama rivers threatens some of the country’s most sensitive ecosystems. 

Our reporting was re-published and cited by Chattanooga Times Free Press, WBHM, Alabama Reflector, Yahoo! News, News from the States, The Guardian and more. After that, numerous local TV stations and media outlets began their own reporting on Alabama Power’s high rates. 

The groundswell of customers shocked by ICN’s calculations and the company’s environmental negligence grew louder. Even U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican whose husband is a lobbyist who worked for Alabama Power, called the situation “unacceptable.” One month after our first story published, Alabama Power announced a two-year rate freeze.

Now, the Alabama Legislature seems poised to pass the first meaningful utility reform in decades. Numerous bills have been filed this session by legislators who aim to rev up PSC oversight and to rein in the power of Alabama Power. 

One bill would require Alabama Power to undergo rate case hearings every three years and would limit the company’s profits to a regional average. If that bill passes before the session ends in April, Alabama Power will have to face formal rate case hearings for the first time since 1981. 

It’s far from a guarantee, but the chance to require real public oversight of Alabama Power is closer than it has been in my lifetime. 

“I don’t know that you’ll get another opportunity anytime soon,” said Rep. Mack Butler, the Republican who sponsored the bill. “This was kind of a perfect storm.”