Alabama PSC asks utility to stop billing customers for advertising

The Alabama Public Service Commission voted 3-0 on Nov. 3 to formally request that Alabama Power voluntarily cease charging customers for advertising expenses. The motion, introduced by commission President Cynthia Lee Almond, seeks to remove these costs from retail rate setting before a state-mandated deadline takes effect.

Alabama Power, which provides electricity to approximately two-thirds of the state, spent more than $6 million on general advertising last year. Under current regulations, the utility is permitted to pass 50% of its non-public-safety advertising costs on to customers, an amount that equates to roughly $4 per customer.

A state law passed earlier in 2026 mandates that these advertising expenses be excluded from customer bills starting Jan. 1, 2029. The commission's request asks the company to voluntarily implement this exclusion for its 2027 and 2028 rate filings, rather than waiting for the legal deadline.

Commissioners Jeremy Oden and Chris Beeker IV joined President Almond in supporting the motion. It has not been confirmed whether Alabama Power will agree to the request to stop billing for these expenses ahead of the 2029 deadline.

The vote occurred on the same day that Jim Zeigler was elected to the commission for Place 2. Zeigler, a former state auditor, is returning to the regulatory body 48 years after his previous term ended in 1979. The commission is set to expand from three members to seven in January 2027, at which time Commissioners Oden and Beeker will depart.