State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) introduced legislation on Thursday requiring the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) to hold annual hearings.
Butler, whose bill comes in the wake of legislation changing the PSC to an appointed position stalled out in the House last week, cited rising energy costs for his new bill.
The lawmaker spoke to 1819 News on Thursday afternoon about his legislation.
"This requires them to not only hold the annual meetings, they can hold more, but it says at least annual, and they have to advertise those to the public and comply with the Open Meetings Act," explained Butler. "And if they don't, they're impeached."
Butler's bill would also prohibit an electric utility from including costs incurred by the utility related to giving grants, lobbying, and advertising in the determination of rate or service regulations.
"When they determine the rate hearings, they can't use the factors of their lobbying calls, their advertising costs, or how they are giving out grants everywhere," noted Butler. "They're a monopoly. They don't need to be doing all that. If they want to do it, they need to do it out of their profits, which they are reporting record profits. I'm not against profit, but my job is to look after the people of this state, in my district, and also to recruit industrial development, just businesses in general."
"We have to have affordable energy with these data centers coming. We've also have to be looking at nuclear energy. They've made such strides in that, but basically this is going to force the Public Service commissioners to do their job. If they do their job, we won't have to do anything. But the fact that they have not had a rate hearing since 1982, most of the people that I work for think they are not doing the job," he added.
Butler concluded, "Their job is to look out for the people of this state, not to look out for the utilities, bottom line."
Butler said HB 475 will be on the state legislature's site for public viewing by Thursday evening.
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