Alabama Power spent more than $6 million on ads last year — and customers can be billed for half of them until 2029

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On a busy election day, the Alabama Public Service Commission requested that Alabama Power voluntarily stop billing customers, effective immediately, for television commercials and other ads it buys to promote various aspects of its business.

Alabama Power is the largest electricity provider in Alabama, with territory covering about two-thirds of the state. Though it is a monopoly, the company spends millions each year on advertising, touting its reliability, customer service and other aspects of its business. 

In recent months, the company has launched a series of television commercials touting a rate freeze it announced late last year amid heavy criticism over rising electricity prices. 

A state law passed earlier this year will prohibit Alabama Power from including the costs of those commercials in customers’ electric bills, meaning the powerful utility will have to find all of the dollars in corporate profits. But the new law won’t take effect until 2029.

Currently, Alabama........

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