Shattering the Rack: Alabama Power’s Puppet Show and the May 19th Reckoning

By Christopher M Peeks February 19, 2026

​Corruption hangs over the former capital of the Confederacy like still cigarette smoke wafting over a pool table in a dimly lit bar room with Merle Haggard playing on the jukebox. The poisonous fumes of greed engulfing Montgomery emanate from the Puppet Master: Alabama Power.

​In news that rocked the state like a booted man in a cowboy hat shattering a fresh rack of balls in that aforementioned Honky Tonk, two puppets—Democratic Senator Bobby Singleton and Republican Representative Chip Brown—introduced a bill to strip citizens of their right to elect the Public Service Commissioners.

​This effort to steal the sacred liberty of the ballot box imploded faster than a building filled with demolitions. A groundswell of opposition arose to this measure like a slumbering volcano finally blowing its top. People who previously could not even name who served on the regulatory body called their representatives demanding a "no" vote on the legislation.

​Energy Alabama, along with head Daniel Tait—two entities unknown to most people prior to a committee meeting last week—have become martyrs to the cause in the fight against the utility giant. This is in large part due to the Joseph Goebbels of local media, Paul Shashy, and his fake news yellow journalism state-run propaganda mouthpiece for Matrix known as Yellowhammer News, in their failed attempt to besmirch these reputations.

​In what the Puppeteer thought they could push through quickly without being detected backfired worse than an overheated Civil War cannon. Not only have they sparked a backlash they didn't see coming, the utility has further eroded support for Jeremy Oden and Chris Beeker III—two people the company has installed in these oversight positions by funneling cash into their campaign war chests in the past.

​The reason for the origins of this legislation is because the monopoly knows that Oden and Beeker are going to fizzle out in the May 19th primary like an exploded 4th of July bottle rocket. This was a desperate move to hold on to their control and avoid open rate hearings—something they have not had since 1982.

​The energy giant is recording record profits while the state has the highest power rates in the region and the third highest in the nation. In their move to try to ram these bills through like the 8-ball going in the side pocket, all they have done is ignited a live wire of public rage.

​May 19th will be a day of reckoning at the ballot box that Alabama Power never saw coming.

Christopher M Peeks

Reporter and Columnist

Alabama Political Contributor