A Season for Change
“Why Unity Matters More Than Ego in Down-Ballot Races.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been revised to reflect recent developments related to the Alabama Public Service Commission race. While individual candidacies have evolved, the underlying concerns regarding accountability, voter engagement, and public interest regulation remain the same.
Alabama is the poorest state in the nation.
Let that settle.
Now sit with this: Alabamians pay some of the highest electricity rates in the United States. Higher than states with stronger economies. Higher than states where median incomes can actually absorb those costs. For families and small businesses already stretched thin, this isn’t an inconvenience — it’s a structural burden.
That contradiction did not happen by accident.
It is the product of policy.
And policy is shaped by power.
Recently, during candidate qualifying, my son, Wilkie S. Frieson, traveled to Montgomery and formally qualified to run for Place 2 on the Alabama Public Service Commission. He paid the qualifying fee, completed the process, and stepped forward with a sincere desire to be part of long-overdue change.
Shortly thereafter, he made a deliberate and thoughtful decision to withdraw from the race — not out of apathy or retreat, but in favor of unity and strategy. He chose to support Sheila D. McNeil, a highly capable and well-qualified candidate from the Huntsville area, believing that consolidating support behind a strong contender was the wiser path.
That decision deserves respect.
Because what this moment illustrates is not indecision — it is political maturity. It is the recognition that meaningful reform is not about individual ambition, but about outcomes. And the outcome Alabama desperately needs is a Public Service Commission that works for the people it is meant to serve.
The Alabama Public Service Commission wields enormous influence over daily life in this state. It determines how much families pay to keep their lights on, how small businesses manage overhead, and how monopoly utilities are regulated — or not regulated — in the public interest.
For years, consumer advocates and policy analysts have raised the same alarm: the PSC functions less as an independent watchdog and more as a reliable rubber stamp for major utilities, particularly Alabama Power. That assessment is not speculative. It is documented.
A widely cited 2013 report prepared for the Alabama Arise Citizens’ Policy Project found that Alabama Power had not faced a full public rate case since 1982, and that rate increases were routinely approved through opaque, formula-based mechanisms that excluded meaningful public participation. More than a decade later, those core findings remain disturbingly relevant.
[Reference: “Public Utility Regulation Without the Public: The Alabama Public Service Commission and Alabama Power” a 16-Page report prepared by the Institute For Energy Economics & Financial Analysis, and released on March 1, 2013 — 13 years ago.]
In the meantime, ratepayers continue to absorb the cost.
I know this not just as a writer or researcher, but as a business owner and consumer. I recently received an electric bill for a building I rarely occupy — a charge so high it suggested constant use and full capacity. That wasn’t reality. But the bill was real, and so was the lack of recourse.
This is what monopoly power looks like when oversight weakens.
And for Black communities in Alabama, the impact is amplified. Disproportionately lower incomes, combined with disproportionately high fixed costs, create a quiet but relentless economic squeeze. Despite decades of rhetoric about progress, many of Alabama’s systems remain functionally unequal — not always loud, not always obvious, but deeply embedded in how decisions are made and who bears the burden.
Which brings us to the point that matters most.
This moment is not about one candidate.
It is about participation.
It is about accountability.
It is about whether voters — especially Black voters — choose to engage or disengage.
Change does not occur because the “right” person runs. It occurs when the public shows up, stays engaged, and demands better outcomes — regardless of who carries the banner.
So let me say this plainly.
This is a season for change — but only if we treat it as one.
That means:
Commit now to voting in November.
If you are not registered, register immediately.
Secure the identification and credentials you need well in advance.
Monitor your voter status regularly.
Bring others with you — family, friends, church members, neighbors.
Show up on Election Day and follow through.
Regulatory systems do not reform themselves.
Power rarely relinquishes control voluntarily.
And silence is always interpreted as consent.
Whether the name on the ballot is familiar or new, the responsibility remains the same.
Engage.
Participate.
Hold the system accountable.
Because the cost of disengagement is already being billed to us — every single month.
The Southern Justice Archive
Presented By: Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson aka
Wilkie Clark’s Daughter”
“Documenting what happened, Preserving what matters, Protecting what must endure!”