MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama's utility regulators can continue to hold closed-door meetings to determine price hikes, in an apparent departure from common practices in neighboring states, a circuit court judge ruled.
The decision on Monday rejected a lawsuit filed by Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Energy Alabama, a nonprofit that advocates for renewable energy sources. The watchdog group was denied access to two meetings in 2024 where the public service commission decided how Alabama Power — the state's largest electricity provider — should adjust prices based on volatility in global fuel costs.
The lawsuit argued the denial flouts both local regulations and regional norms.
Montgomery circuit Judge Brooke Reid ruled against the environmental advocates in a one-page order after a hearing in June. She said the group's rights had not been substantially violated. At the June hearing, Reid said the commission's ''interpretation of its own rules should be given deference.''
Christina Tidwell, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, blasted Reid's decision in a statement on Monday.
''While other Southern states have meaningful public engagement in fuel cost proceedings, Alabama Power customers will continue to be shut out of the process,'' Tidwell wrote.
The Alabama Public Service Commission has rules that govern how Alabama Power can change electricity prices to offset increases in fuel costs, which tend to be volatile. Those rules say that the public is entitled to hear evidence and participate in proceedings that adjust fuel costs to ensure these changes are ''just and reasonable.''
The lawsuit said there have been only two public fuel cost hearings since the commission's current rules were adopted in 1981. By contrast, the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates a sister company of Alabama Power, has held at least 26 public formal fuel cost proceedings, according to the complaint.