The Alabama Public Service Commission, commonly called The PSC, was established by an act of The Alabama Legislature in 1915 to primarily replace the State Railroad Commission. The PSC's responsibility was expanded in 1920 to include regulating and setting rates that utility companies charge their customers for electricity. The legislature expanded the PSC's responsibilities in later years to include those companies that provide gas, water, and communications, as well as transportation common carriers such as trucking and air carriers. The PSC effectively determines the rate of profits that most all of these companies are allowed to earn. However, some of its traditional responsibilities have passed to the Federal Government with the passage of The Federal Aviation Act of 1994 and the Federal Communications Act of 1996.[1]
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The Alabama Public Service Commission is composed of three elected members, a President and two associate commissioners. They run statewide in partisan elections and each serves a 4-year term. There is no limit to the number of terms to which they may be elected. The President of The Commission is elected during Presidential elections and the two associate commissioners are elected during midterm elections.
Commissioner Lucy Baxley is the only Democrat among the three. She was first elected in 2008, with a margin of about 10,000 votes which translated into 50.3% of the vote over Republican Twinkle Cavanaugh.[2] Commissioner Baxley previously served as Alabama State Treasurer and Lieutenant Governor before losing a race for governor to incumbent Bob Riley in 2006.
Commissioner Cavanaugh, had previously served as both Executive Director and later was elected as the first female Chairman of The Alabama Republican Party. She was elected to the Commission on November 2, 2010, in her third campaign for statewide office. She defeated long-time commissioner Jan Cook with 56% of the vote and a margin of more than 186,000 votes.
Commissioner Terry Dunn was also elected in 2010 when he defeated incumbent Susan Parker. Despite being outspent by a more than 2-1 margin he won 55% of the vote and a margin of more than 150,000 votes. Mr. Dunn is from Gadsden and is the owner of Dunn Development Corp. and Dunn Investment Group. He is also a trustee for the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.
Often in the past, The commission served as a stepping stone to run for higher offices in the state, although not always successfully. Commissioners B.B. Comer and Gordon Persons moved from the PSC to the office of Governor. Long-time Commissioner C.C. "Jack" Owen unsuccessfully ran for governor from the PSC.
Commissioner Jim Folsom Jr. was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1986 and was re-elected in 1990. He was elevated to the governor's office in 1993 upon the felony conviction of Gov. Guy Hunt. As an incumbent, he was defeated in the gubernatorial election in 1994 by Republican Fob James. Folsom stayed out of elective politics for 12 years. Folsom returned to public office with his 2006 election to the office of Lieutenant Governor. He was again defeated for re-election in 2010 when he lost the Lieutenant Governor post to Republican Kay Ivey. Folsom is the son and namesake of two-time Alabama governor James E. "Big Jim" Folsom, famous for being a progressive on civil rights when it was unpopular to be so.
Commissioner Jim Zeigler became a perennial candidate following his single term on the PSC. He subsequently ran for state supreme court, civil appeals court, state treasurer and state auditor, losing each by narrow margins, thus earning the nickname "Mr. 49%." He made a minor comeback of sorts in 2004, when he mildly surprised the political establishment by defeating long-time Republican National Committeeman and former Chief Justice Perry O. Hooper, Sr. for Statewide Delegate to the Republican National Convention. Hooper is a founder of the modern Republican Party of Alabama and had been expected to win handily.[3]
One of the most infamous and colorful politicians in Alabama was Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor, a Democrat who had earlier served as police commissioner in Birmingham. He made national news when he ordered the police to use dogs and fire hoses on civil rights demonstrators during the Civil Rights protests in the 1960s. He lost a race for governor in 1970 in the Democrat primary.
Commissioner Ed Pepper and his wife were killed in the worst fire in Alabama history in 1966. The Dale's Penthouse restaurant fire in Montgomery took 25 lives. He was the brother of well-known U.S. Senator and Congressman Claude Pepper of Florida, an Alabama native. The long-serving Claude Pepper became a national spokesman for senior citizens.
Two commissioners were convicted of felony offenses while serving and were automatically removed—Juanita McDaniel and Kenneth "Bozo" Hammond. Hammond later was elected Mayor of his native Valley Head, Alabama.
Hammond, Lynn Greer, and Pete Matthews all had previously served in the Alabama Legislature as Democrats. Greer later lost a race for Congress in north Alabama's Tennessee Valley district but was then twice elected to the state legislature again as recently as 2010 as a Republican.
ALL COMMISSIONERS
President
Walter L. Bragg: Served February 1881 - February 1885
Henry R. Shorter: Served February 1885 - February 1897
James Crook: Served February 1897 - February 1901
John V. Smith: Served March 1901 - March 1905
B.B. Comer: Served March 1905 - January 1907
Charles Henderson: Served January 1907 - January 1915
Samuel P. Kennedy: Served June 1915 - January 1923
A.G. Patterson: Served January 1923 - January 1927
Hugh White: Served January 1927 - January 1945
Gordon Persons: Served January 1945 - January 1951
C.C. (Jack) Owen: Served January 1951 - January 1965
Eugene (Bull) Conner: Served January 1965 - January 1973
Kenneth "Bozo" Hammond: Served January 1973 - December 1975
C.C. "Chris" Whatley: Served December 1975 - January 1977
Juanita W. McDaniel: Served January 1977 - February 1980
William J. "Jimmy" Samford, Jr.: Served February 1980 - January 1981
Billy Joe Camp: Served January 1981 - January 1983
Jim Sullivan: Served February 1983 - November 2008
Lucy Baxley: Served November 2008 – Present
Commissioner, Place 1
James Crook: Served February 1881 - February 1885
Levi W. Lawler: Served February 1885 - September 1892
Gen. James T. Holtzclaw: Served February 1893 - July 1893
Willis G. Clark: Served August 1893 - February 1895
Harvey E. Jones: Served February 1895 - February 1899
A.E. Caffee: Served February 1899 - February 1903
William T. Sanders: Served April 1903 - January 1907
Charles Henderson : Served January 1907 - February 1907
W.D. Nesbitt: Served March 1907 - January 1911
Leon McCord: Served January 1911 - January 1915
B.H. Cooper: Served January 1915 - January 1923
Fitzhugh Lee: Served January 1923 - January 1943
Gordon Persons: Served January 1943 - January 1945
James Perdue: Served May 1945 - January 1947
James "Jimmy" Hitchcock: Served January 1947 - June 1959
Ralph Smith, Jr.: Served August 1959 - August 1960
Joe Foster: Served August 1960 - January 1963
Ed Pepper: Served January 1963 - January 1967
C.C. (Jack) Owen: Served January 1967 - January 1975
Jim Zeigler: Served January 1975 - January 1979
Pete Mathews: Served January 1979 - March 1981
Lynn Greer: Served June 1981 - November 1990
Jan Cook: Served November 1990 - January 2011
Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh: Served January, 2011 to present
Commissioner, Place 2
Col. Charles P. Ball: Served February 1881 - February 1885
Wiley C. Tunstall: Served February 1885 - February 1895
Ross C. Smith: Served February 1895 - February 1899
Osceola Kyle: Served February 1899 - December 1900
Wiley C. Tunstall : Served December 1900 - January 1907
John G. Harris: Served January 1923 - May 1936
W.C. Harrison: Served June 1936 - January 1947
C.C. (Jack) Owen: Served January 1947 - January 1951
T.O. Walker: Served January 1951 - January 1955
Sibyl Pool : Served January 1955 - January 1971
Juanita W. McDaniel: Served January 1971 - January 1977
C.C. "Chris" Whatley: Served January 1977 - January 1979
Jim Folsom, Jr.: Served January 1979 - November 1986
Charles B. Martin: Served November 1986 - November 1998
George C. Wallace, Jr.: Served November 1998 - November 2006
Susan D. Parker, PhD: Served November 2006 - January 2011
Terry Dunn: Served January 2011 to present