By Brian Lyman | Editor
Over the past few decades, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office has been indifferent to the electricity rates paid by residents in the state and showed little interest in using its power to advocate for consumers before the Public Service Commission. So it may be a measure of how important the data center issue is becoming that it has chosen to do so with electricity contracts used by these facilities.
A sign expressing opposition to an 800-acre, $1.5 billion proposed hyperscale data center in Lowndes County, Alabama is seen on Aug. 24, 2026 in Hayneville, Alabama. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
By Ralph Chapoco
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office earlier this month said the Alabama Public Service Commission, the state’s chief utility regulator, should hold public votes on large load contracts, often used by data centers. The move represented a rare instance of the office using powers to advocate for consumers before the Public Service Commission and came amid mounting concerns about construction of facilities in the state.
The Denny Chimes at the University of Alabama as seen on March 28, 2026. (Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector)
EDUCATION
By Ralph Chapoco
Attorneys for two student magazines shut down by the University of Alabama late last year asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to block the university’s decisions. Attorneys for Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six, which focused on women and Black students at the university, amounted to censorship. The magazines lost in district court earlier in May. UA claims the move was made to follow White House guidane on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Apreill Hartsfield, Kids Count director for VOICES for Alabama Children, speaks at the 2025 Kids Count Data Book press conference at the Autauga County Family Resource Center in Prattville, Alabama on Feb. 17, 2025. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Anna Barrett
A nonprofit plans to launch a new website on Tuesday to improve access to data from its annual report on the health and well-being of Alabama children. VOICES for Alabama Children said the website will be a “living resource” for its 73 measures on its annual Kids Count report, including mental health, education and economic security. The group hopes access will lead to more informed policy decisions.
ICYMI
Meta to pay 47 states up to $17.1B in landmark child safety settlement | Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline
As states tighten oversight, private equity’s healthcare deals decline | Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline
Some states raise pay for home caregivers as shortage looms | Anne Saker, Stateline
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