Oden Talks PSC, Power, Trump Energy First, Bad Information

Jeremy Oden, Republican candidate for the Alabama Public Service Commission, Place 1, spoke with ALPolitics.com by phone on Wednesday about his reelection bid and the issues he’s encounter in this race and his tenure at the PSC thus far.

We began by asking Mr. Oden to tell us why he was running for reelection.

“Well, you know, I'm currently the Commissioner, but one of the things I've always focused on is a good policy in energy, and not necessarily just in energy, but also in utility regulation,” Oden said. “A lot of people, with the focus of the last couple of weeks, have just focused on the energy side and energy production.”

“But, in the Public Service Commission it's not just you about energy. We also do a lot of safety stuff, like railroad inspections. We're over the track's safety. We're also over pipeline safety. That's gas pipelines. We're also over moving companies, and anyone really, who moves people or people things — we say humans and humans goods. We actually make sure that they have their background checks on file, like with taxi companies and Uber and Lyft. Those are things that we do on a normal basis.

“The other thing, though, is we do monitor power utilities and gas utilities. One of the things that I've tried to do in my career is to keep it conservative, keep it reliable, keep it affordable, and look at all of the issues when we do that. That's a tough job, it's a fine line to walk, but I've kept conservative. I've been named the one of the most conservative public utility people in the country, not just in the State, but in the country.

“That's some of the reasons I'm looking forward to getting reelected. The other reason, of course, is Trump is going to change the energy world, and I know what he wants to do, and I want to be a part of that implementation, putting it into works, and seeing that go forward. His America First Energy Program, I was involved with when he was elected in his first term, and I'm also involved with it in his second term. We've got to be energy leaders in this country, and that's one of the focuses that I'm going to keep on doing in such a way that it will be a conservative format,” he finished.

We then asked Oden to comment on how he expects President Trump to change the energy infrastructure in the country.

“President Trump has said, and he's pretty well right on target, that our backbone systems, like natural gas and nuclear and coal, have to maintain their production levels in order for us to advance and not have an energy crisis in the country,” Oden began. “He's removing some of those policies that were in place underneath Biden and some of those that even were left over from the Obama years. He’s removing those and freeing up a little bit of the energy world to be able to produce the energy we need. 

“We're going to need a lot of energy coming on, not just these technology centers and, but we're also growing as far as industry is concerned. These companies are using electricity more, and with that, I think he's going to make a move and change some of that. He's redirecting world energy now. We can see that through a lot of things he is doing, putting the emphasis on the United States being the energy leader and the energy supplier for the world.”

We asked Mr. Oden about Alabama being considered for early deployment of micro nuclear reactors, and if the PSC would be involved in regulating them.

Oden answered, saying the PSC would be involved “only if it is touched by or touches Alabama Power. That's one of the falsities that are out there —  that we regulate all the energy production for Alabama. We do not. The only thing that we would look at on the production side is if Alabama Power chose to go that route, and if they do, then we would look at that, make sure that it was cost effective, and beneficial for the rate payer. TVA, municipals, Power South; these organizations are not monitored by the Public Service Commission, and so if they look at something like that, then no, we do not have the regulatory authority on it. Only if Alabama Power does, then we would be a monitor, and we would just see the benefits of it before we would say yes or no.”

When asked how he foresaw things being different at the PSC following the passage of HB475, (the bill that markedly changed the structure of the PSC) Oden said, “Well, it is going to be totally different. We go from three commissioners, to seven commissioners. The first four will be gubernatorial appointments. We go from statewide elected officials to basically, a congressional seat — elected officials that will represent a congressional seat. It'll take six years to implement, and so we're waiting on all of that.

“The biggest change is that the power of the Commissioners will be moving to what we are understanding to be a Secretary of Energy, and that Secretary of Energy will be over the PSC, it will be a gubernatorial appointment, and the power of the Public Service Commission, the agenda, the staff, basically the running of the whole department, and everything will be placed in that person's hands. And so, it will change dramatically. You will see what it does when we start implementing the law. We can't fully see all of it now until we really digest it, and we are digesting it now. Even as this election cycle is progressing, we're trying to understand it and get ready for it.

Oden went on, saying, “it’s going to be hard to see the the structure of where we may fall as far as policy is concerned on the companies that we do regulate, because now, instead of three, where one member, really and truthfully had a voice in what was saying, now you're going to have to look at a collective. You know, a four to three vote, or even a five to two vote, because the law also requires, in some instances, a super majority. So, the policy and stuff is going to be up in the air until we get all the commissioners pretty well formulated and appointed, and we realize what directions that the collective will move.”

When asked for any final thoughts, Oden said, “I know the Public Service Commission, we’ve been in the news lately. The thing that I want to say, is that people need to really and truthfully look at the facts. A lot of stuff that was presented in the legislative body and a lot of stuff that was presented on the news media, is not necessarily true. One of the things that we can do now, because we're pretty well open to be able to speak, is that we do not have the highest rates in the country. We don't have the third highest rates in the country. Our rates fall from about 21 to 22 overall, and things like that.

“My biggest thing — and I say this on the campaign trail — Abraham Lincoln said that everything on Facebook is true. We know for a fact that Abraham Lincoln wasn't even around and so look, we need you to look at the facts. Call our office, call us, call me, ask questions, and we'll give you what we do and how we do it.

“That's the biggest thing — people got a lot of misinformation, a lot of paid push stuff. I mean, you know, getting on Facebook, they have paid people who go in there and make comments. They have paid pages that don't look like a paid page, it looks like grandma and her kitchen or a mama driving to school. All of these people are paid pretty well to make the comments they do. So I'm asking the people, really and truthfully just research, make sure the facts that you're hearing and the facts that you're seeing are true. And I need everybody's vote on May 19.”

For more information on Jeremy Oden and his reelection campaign for PSC Place 1, visit https://www.odenforpsc.com.