Woodall on the PSC Race, Why He’s Running

Brent Woodall, who is running for the Alabama Public Service Commission. Pace 2 in the Republican primary spoke with ALPolitics.com on Monday, May 4 about the race, why he’s running, and how he foresees the changes coming to the PSC after passage by the Legislature of HB475 in the last legislative session.

When asked why he decided to run for PSC, Woodall said, “I originally was running to put an end to the hidden tax that the Public Service Commission levies upon the ratepayers of the utility companies that it oversees. But after the legislature did what they did on April the 1st — and I would remind everyone that that was April Fool's Day — when they enacted this legislation (HB475) that drastically changed the Public Service Commission, to the detriment of the rate payers of those same utility companies regulated by the PSC? That is what I am running on now, because I am going to be the voice of transparency, the voice of the ratepayers in Montgomery.

“When things are brought before the Public Service Commission, I will be fighting to let the people of the state know what is being put forth, what the effect is going to be on the rate payers, and also what the people around the state can do to try to reverse those changes that are being brought to the Public Service Commission.”

We then asked Woodall if he could us a little bit about what happened April 1 and how he was going to respond, when elected, to going from a three member commission to a seven member commission with an Energy Czar,

“You’ve summed up well what happened on April the 1st,” Woodall said. “The Public Service Commission went from a three person commission to seven people, and that will be in effect in July of this year. When Governor Ivey appoints four new people — and I will emphasize that word appoints — because, as you are well aware, of the three members who comprise the PSC now, two of them were appointed and have not stood for election. The third member was also originally appointed, but has stood for election.

“And so with those three members there, we have, according to WBRC (Fox 6 in Birmingham), the third highest electric rates in the entire country, and according to our junior Senator (Sen. Katie Britt), we have the highest electric rates in the entire southeastern United States. Now that tells us that appointed positions don't really respond to the people of the state of Alabama. But again, under the new law, Governor Ivey is going to appoint four new people to the Public Service Commission. They will be there, able to thwart anything that the newly-elected commissioners attempt to do in November, and they will be aided by the newly appointed Secretary of Energy.

“I believe you referred to them as “Energy Czar” — that's a good title, because, let's face it, they are going to have complete control at the Public Service Commission. Up until the passage of that bill (HB475), commissioners there were able to hire on their own three staff members to assist them in the work they needed to get done. They were able to hire a chief of staff, an executive assistant and a secretary. They made the decision about who to hire. But now under this law, it is the Secretary of Energy, a position we've never had in the past, never needed in the past, and don’t need it now; that individual will be making every hiring decision, including staffing the offices of the commissioners. So, the commissioners may have zero confidence in the people who are hired for their office. They may not even trust the work that they're going to be doing, but they will be put there.

“The Secretary of Energy is also going to set every single agenda for the Public Service Commission. Now that's true unless five out of seven, a super majority of the new seven member PSC, decides that they want something else on the agenda or have something removed from the agenda. Then, they will be able to change the agenda. But again, you have to have five out of seven, and when four are recently appointed by the Governor, that makes it very difficult to bring that about.

“And, I would just again, respectfully remind your readers that this is the whole thing. The entire law was completely unnecessary. All we needed to fix what was wrong at the Public Service Commission, was for the people of this state this election cycle, to elect two new members — to throw the two incumbents off of the commission, and put two new people on there who understood the work that the PSC is supposed to do. But, more importantly, to actually do the work there and not just be a lap dog for the utility companies that they are supposed to regulate. That is, in a brief summary, what the new law has done to the PSC.”

When we asked Mr. Woodall if he had any last closing thoughts, he replied, “Show up on May the 19th and vote Brent Woodall, Public Service Commission Place Two.”

For more information on Brent Woodall and his campaign, follow him on Facebook.