By Chandler Myers

 

Matt Chancey, candidate for Public Service Commission President, stopped in Atmore Thursday to make door-to-door stops with residents and local business owners.

Chancey is in a runoff for the PSC President seat on July 15 with Twinkle Andress who finished ahead of him in the June 3 primary.

The PSC is a state agency, which regulates utility companies that have a monopoly status such as Alabama Power or AT&T.

Chancey said the main job of the PSC is to play the go between for the community and the utility in question.

“Essentially what the commission does is a referee between the consumers and the regulated utility,” Chancey said. “They make sure the consumers get a fair price for the utility they buy and that the companies make a fair profit because if you get in a monopoly situation they can charge what they want, but the commission is set up to regulate those rates.”

He has two goals that he plans to fulfill if elected to the commission.

Chancey said the most important issue is the energy problem that is being faced right now.

He added that if elected he would like to go around the state and explain to people how help keep utility rates low.

“One of the things I would like to do as PSC President is I would like to go around the state and educate consumers on way to keep energy prices low,” Chancey said. “I am encouraging energy independence for America and like many other politicians I think we should drill for oil here instead of relying on other nations such as Venezuela or the Middle Eastern countries.”

Chancey’s second goal is to step back and examine what the commission has done in the past 15-20 years and see what improvements need to be made.

He said one issue he would look at is how necessary some regulations are because they can be like laws or taxes that become outdated and have no purpose.

“I want to look at the policies that have been implemented because they can sometimes be like taxes where they are put into place never go away and outlive their usefulness,” Chancey said. “Most Alabamians don’t realize that they are paying a property tax that contributes to Confederate widow’s pensions and I want to look at policies that might be in place that like that tax have no purpose by today’s standards.”

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