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Jim Zeigler first served on the Public Service Commission for a single term from 1975 to 1979.<\/p>\nMOBILE, Ala.\u2014Jim Zeigler didn\u2019t have much time to celebrate.<\/p>\n
The morning after his Republican primary victory on Tuesday and a gathering of supporters at Wintzell\u2019s Oyster House, the 78-year-old hit the road early to drive the nearly four hours to his hometown of Sylacauga, southwest of Birmingham, to attend a funeral.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even this early, Zeigler already had his mind on November.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough, tough race,\u201d Zeigler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He may be right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like Republicans across the South, Zeigler pointed to recent public service commission elections in Georgia\u2014two Republican to Democratic flips\u2014as a seeming electoral mandate from voters: Lower energy bills and curb data centers, or face citizens\u2019 wrath at the ballot box.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, Zeigler said, he believes Democrats\u2019 success in Georgia also came because of an influx of campaign cash from out-of-state donors\u2014a challenge he said he anticipates Alabama Republicans in utility regulation races will face in November as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not only a possibility that kind of campaign will be attempted in Alabama,\u201d Zeigler said. \u201cIt sneaked up on the Republicans of Georgia. It won\u2019t sneak up on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The election of a Democrat to one of Alabama\u2019s at-large PSC seats would be a major electoral shakeup. The last Democrat to serve on the body was elected in 2008.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jim Zeigler first served on the Public Service Commission for a single term from 1975 to 1979.<\/p>\n
Zeigler said his aim in the campaign\u2014both in the primary and general\u2014is to channel voters\u2019 frustrations about data centers and solar farms.<\/p>\n
It was those issues, according to Zeigler, that put him past the finish line in the race against his Republican opponent,<\/a> Chris Beeker, an incumbent with a 5 to 1 campaign finance advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beeker, who was appointed to serve the remainder of his father\u2019s term, ran a much less vocal campaign, a stark contrast to Zeigler\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n During his campaign, Zeigler has promised he will serve as an \u201cAI watchman in Alabama,\u201d shielding residents from the economic and environmental burdens of the data centers that power AI technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said he will soon begin rolling out a detailed plan about how he\u2019ll conduct that oversight. One of the first things that should be made public, Zeigler said, is a list of all data centers in Alabama currently operating, proposed or under construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRight now there is no such a list available to the public,\u201d Zeigler said.<\/p>\n Both Alabama Power and the Alabama Public Service Commission have declined requests by Inside Climate News for such a list.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, despite Zeigler\u2019s pledges, the ability of he or any other public service commissioner to regulate industry effectively will soon be more limited than ever before. Earlier this year, the Alabama Legislature passed a law expanding the commission from three to seven seats and consolidating regulatory power in a newly-created secretary of energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Experts said the legislation stood to benefit Alabama Power,<\/a> the state\u2019s largest utility, by making the initiation of rate cases scrutinizing energy prices more difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n Zeigler seemed reticent to criticize the new law on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact is it\u2019s law,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019m just going to have to live with. Move on.\u201d<\/p>\n This won\u2019t be Zeigler\u2019s first time serving on the body. A perennial candidate, he served on the Public Service Commission for a single term from 1975 to 1979. Half a century later, after running for various offices and serving as Alabama\u2019s state auditor from 2015 to 2023, Zeigler said he recognizes that if he wins in November, he\u2019ll be serving in a state much different than it was all that time ago. In 1979, Zeigler said, no one had heard of a data center, much less had one proposed to be built in their back yard. Times have changed. Now, Zeigler himself is figuring out how to deal with ever-evolving technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Zeigler said while his campaign hasn\u2019t generated AI images for publication, it may have shared some created by supporters. Both Zeigler\u2019s website<\/a> and social media pages<\/a> feature AI-generated images, one portraying Zeigler in a heroic stance, \u201cTHE WATCHMAN\u201d emblazoned across the bottom.\u00a0<\/p>\n In it, Zeigler holds a bottle labeled \u201csunlight, integrity, common sense and sweet tea.\u201d Zeigler, in a houndstooth blazer, a cape and a \u201cpeople over profits\u201d belt buckle, appears above a monster truck painted in the University of Alabama\u2019s crimson and white. \u201cZeigler,\u201d the side of the truck says. \u201cWatching out for Alabama!\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, Zeigler said it doesn\u2019t matter if his campaign or supporters use AI-generated images in his run for office.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI guess eventually I\u2019m going to have to learn how to use AI,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the idea that you can\u2019t be a watchman over data centers and try to oversee them if you use any AI yourself is a juvenile analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n
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