The Alabama House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on legislation requiring the Public Service Commission (PSC) to hold regular public rate case hearings.
The Alabama House Committee on Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure passed the legislation out of committee last week.
The bill by State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) requires the PSC to hold regular public rate case hearings every three years.
The Senate passed its own PSC legislation that expands the commission and creates a new Secretary of Energy role. It also requires the commission to hold a “public meeting” annually on utility-related issues.
Butler said his bill would cap the rates of Alabama Power and other investor-owned utilities regulated by the PSC, preventing them from exceeding the regional average.
Butler said the PSC is already “holding rate hearings currently, which all they do is approve the return on Equity based off of a formula that guarantees them some of the highest returns in the nation.”
“That is different from a rate case hearing, a rate case hearing is like a court proceeding which my bill gives the commission subpoena power, and it would require the utilities to go under oath and present evidence to justify their rates,” Butler told 1819 News on Monday. “My response on adding cost is absolutely it will cost a few dollars but the goal is to save a couple hundred million. The Senate bill adds cost as well and every year. Mine only adds the extra cost every three years.”
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