Alabama Public Service Commission - History and Prior Commissioners

History and Prior Commissioners

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.

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.