Lawmakers return to Montgomery today for the remaining two weeks of this legislative session. High on the to-do list is melding two competing bills to reorganize the state’s Public Service Commission, which regulates many of the state’s utilities.
Both Senate Bill 360 and House Bill 475 passed their chambers of origin unanimously two weeks ago and now await committee votes in the opposite chambers.
“The sponsors are working to combine the best parts of the Senate Power To The People Act and the House reform and oversight bill in order to ensure that regulated utilities are forced to justify the rates they charge, our state maintains commonsense energy policies, and Alabamians continue to elect their representatives on the Public Service Commission,” Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger told Alabama Daily News.
Reforming the PSC wasn’t a forecasted priority item for lawmakers heading into the session in January, but it has become one of the dominant issues after the House introduced a three-bill energy package in February. An original PSC bill would have changed the panel from elected to appointed. That bill fizzled in the House amid public pushback and lack of support in the Senate.
Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, is the sponsor of the House bill that requires utility rate hearings every three years and guarantees that utility companies cannot pass on lobbying expenses to ratepayers. The PSC has not held a public rate hearing in more than 40 years.
The Senate bill is from Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville. It would expand the current three-member PSC to seven members elected from the state’s congressional districts. It also creates a governor-appointed secretary of energy position to oversee the administrative duties of the commission and personnel.
Butler last week said House and Senate members will need to work on a compromise when they return Tuesday and before another vote is taken. What the final product might look like is anyone’s guess, but he said it’s important that a rate hearing requirement is included.
“That’s something we really can’t compromise on,” he said. “We’re going to have to have formal rate hearings under oath, under penalty of perjury, and this Public Service Commission needs to have subpoena power.
“… We need the teeth and the hammer in there.”
“I think both chambers would like to take the better parts of both bills and somehow come out with one bill,” he said.
He said he’s optimistic.
“We were having really good talks before spring break,” he said. “And I’m optimistic that we will come together and get a product that everyone can be proud of.”
Chambliss has repeatedly said in State House debates that lawmakers want to help bring down Alabamians’ higher-than-average utility bills.
“Both the House and Senate are focused on bringing down our power rates, which are currently among the highest in the Southeast,” he told ADN recently. “There’s no dispute about that—each chamber has already passed legislation aimed at addressing the issue. While we’ve taken different approaches, there’s been meaningful discussion about combining those efforts to reach a shared goal. I’m confident that before the session ends, we’ll pass legislation that leads to lower power rates.”
Data center bills
Introduced with that original House PSC bill were two bills to rein in the state incentives given to large data centers, which consume large amounts of energy.
The Alabama Senate and House earlier this month unanimously passed companion bills to lessen sales and use tax abatements on centers from 30 years to 20 years.
Prior to spring break, Senate Bill 265 by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, was amended in a House committee. It would allow centers to keep the 30-year abatement window if they made significant investments in their local communities. Examples outlined in the bill include infrastructure and education efforts.
“They must contribute to bridges, roads, broadband, water, wastewater system upgrades, capital improvements, schools, or various educational opportunities at a school or local community college,” Jones told ADN.
The bill does not define the dollar amount of a company’s commitment to local projects.
“We are considering additional language adding a minimum amount for that large investment,” Andrews said.
Awaiting final passage is Senate Bill 270, by Sen. Lance Bell, R-Riverside. It would require data centers, not their neighbors, to pay for the additional electricity they’ll require. A House version of the same bill by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, has already passed the body.