The Alabama Public Service Commission is exempt from allowing public input when determining the amount Alabama Power can charge consumers for fuel expenditures, according to a judge’s decision.
Daniel Tait, executive director of Energy Alabama, a nonprofit that promotes renewable energy, called this a sad result for Alabamans who are forced to pay the high cost of fossil fuels on their Alabama Power bill. When authorities are making important decisions regarding their bills, such as the fuel cost processes, the public should have a seat at the table.
Judge Brooke Reid of the Montgomery County Circuit Court rejected Energy Alabama’s request for public comment on the commission’s proceedings on Alabama Power’s Rate Energy Cost Recovery, or Rate ECR, on Monday.
An important consideration in each ratepayer’s bill is the rate ECR. It’s how Alabama Power can recover its fuel costs, whether they come from coal, natural gas, or electricity from another utility.
The Rate ECR is designed to be updated periodically because to the frequent fluctuations in gasoline prices. The rate is set by the Public Service Commission.
Energy Alabama filed a petition to allow public comment on the Rate ECR docket of the commission. However, the group’s proposal was turned down twice by the commission: once in May of last year and again in November.
The nonprofit then filed an appeal with the circuit court over the commission’s denial. Reid, however, stated in her decision on Monday that Energy Alabama had not demonstrated that the commission’s denial had infringed upon its rights or that the commission’s decision was founded on facts that were at odds with the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
A request for comment on Tuesday afternoon was not answered by a public service commission spokesman.
The organizations have not yet determined whether to appeal the decision to a higher court, according to Terah Boyd, a spokesman for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents Energy Alabama.
The commission contended that since there was no procedure in which Energy Alabama could engage, they were unable to intervene in the Rate ECR docket. Since 2008, the commission has not conducted a formal proceeding over Alabama Power’s Rate ECR.
According to the Public Service Commission’s November denial, the commission is not ready to conclude that the regular status reports and sporadic consent orders issued in [the Rate ECR docket] since the last proceeding in that cause in 2008 are equivalent to the start, reactivation, or continuation of a proceeding in accordance with the commission’s rules.
Additionally, Alabama Power opposed Energy Alabama’s petition. For this report, a utility spokesperson declined to comment.
An analysis of accessible records by AL.com shows that the commission has changed the utility’s Rate ECR at least 16 times since 2000.
Energy Alabama contended that by denying the public a voice in Rate ECR hearings, the Public Service Commission is violating its own regulations. A news release from the environmental groups states that the commission must perform a formal hearing and solicit public participation whenever the rate has to be changed, either upward or lower.
According to Christina Tidwell, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, Alabama Power consumers will be excluded from the fuel cost hearings, whereas other southern states have significant public participation. Regretfully, without accountability or transparency, the commission and Alabama Power will keep changing the rates that consumers pay.
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