How are data center agreements reviewed – and why are some details redacted?
Alabama Public Service Commissioners, PSC staff and the Alabama Attorney General’s office receive the full, unredacted agreement and supporting analysis. Redactions apply only to the public copy.
Short answer: Data center agreements are reviewed by the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) using the complete, unredacted agreement, supporting analysis and attachments. Commissioners and PSC staff have access to those materials, and the Alabama Attorney General’s (AG) office receives them as well. The public copy leaves out confidential commercial or financial information. Those redactions do not limit the regulatory review.
One Agreement, Two Copies
The public copy shows the agreement’s structure and nonconfidential provisions. Separate public information explains the review process and the rules being applied.
Commissioners and PSC staff, along with the AG’s office, receive the complete, unredacted agreement and supporting information. PSC staff analyzes those materials as part of the Commission’s review of whether the agreement meets the required customer-protection standard. These are two copies of the same agreement: a public copy with redactions and a complete copy for regulatory review.
Some terms are commercially sensitive because each agreement is negotiated separately. Details such as site buildout plans, pricing and agreement length can affect future negotiations. Publishing these details could weaken Alabama Power’s ability in the future to negotiate strong protections for existing customers and the other company’s ability to negotiate elsewhere.
What to Know
- The public filing is not the only copy. Redactions apply to the public copy, not to the complete materials provided to the Commission and the AG’s office for review.
- The PSC modified the review process in July 2026. The process already included a pre-filing review of the full agreement. The PSC extended the post-filing approval period from 10 days to 45 days and asked that the AG’s office receive the same complete, unredacted materials provided to the Commission. Alabama Power agreed.
- The review goes beyond Alabama Power’s initial submission. PSC staff may ask questions or request more information, and Alabama Power must respond. If staff finds that the agreement does not meet the required standard, staff will seek changes or recommend that the Commission disapprove it.
- State law reinforces the existing customer-protection standard. Beginning Oct. 1, Act 610 applies to data center agreements involving loads of 150 megawatts or more. The pricing and terms must be expected to recover the additional costs created by serving the data center, known as incremental costs, and promote positive benefits for other retail customers. The core customer-protection standard is the same one the PSC has applied for years.
- The standard in the new state law applies regardless of who serves on the Commission.
How the process works
Before Oct. 1, 2026: Large-load data center agreements are reviewed under Rate FCR, as modified in July 2026. The post-filing approval period is 45 days, and the AG’s office receives the same complete, unredacted materials provided to the Commission.
Beginning Oct. 1, 2026: Act 610 places the approval standard for large-load data center agreements in state law. The PSC must determine that the agreement’s pricing and terms are expected to recover incremental costs and promote positive benefits for other retail customers. The PSC has applied this customer-protection standard for years. Act 610 also requires consideration of whether the agreement promotes economic growth in the community where the data center will be located.
The PSC is using Docket 33709 to confirm the procedures for carrying out Act 610.
The review has three basic steps.
Alabama Power submits the agreement and supporting analysis.
The submission includes the complete agreement and all exhibits, attachments and amendments. It also includes an analysis showing how the pricing and terms are expected to recover incremental costs and analysis of how the agreement could affect other customers’ costs, power-system efficiency and economic development.
The public and reviewers receive different copies.
The public filing includes redactions of confidential commercial or financial information. The Commission and the AG’s office receive the complete, unredacted materials.
The Commission reviews the agreement and analysis.
PSC staff conducts the detailed review and may send questions or request more information, and Alabama Power must respond. If staff finds that the agreement does not meet the required standard, staff will seek changes or recommend that the Commission disapprove it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the public copy redacted?
Data center agreements may include proprietary business information and confidential commercial or financial terms. These can include pricing, capacity, timing and other terms negotiated to meet the needs of a specific customer while also protecting existing customers.
Redactions limit what competitors, suppliers and other companies can see. They do not limit what the Commission or the AG’s office receives.
Who sees the full data center agreement?
Alabama Public Service Commissioners, PSC staff and the AG’s office receive the complete, unredacted agreement, supporting analysis and all exhibits, attachments and amendments.
What standard does the PSC apply?
Under Rate FCR today, and under Act 610 beginning Oct. 1, the agreement’s pricing and terms must be expected to:
- recover the additional costs the utility would not incur without serving the data center, known as incremental costs; and
- promote positive benefits for other retail customers.
Those costs can include generation, fuel, transmission, distribution, taxes and other costs created by serving the data center.
In simple terms – data centers pay the full cost to serve their energy needs, so costs are not shifted to existing customers.
Does the standard change when commissioners change?
No. Rate FCR applies now. Beginning Oct. 1, Act 610 places the standard in state law. The customer-protection standard applies regardless of who serves on the Commission.
What about agreements filed before Oct. 1?
They are reviewed under the PSC’s modified interim process. That includes a 45-day post-filing approval period and complete, unredacted materials for the Commission and the AG’s office.
Rate FCR already requires pricing to recover incremental costs and promote benefits for existing customers. Act 610 places that core customer-protection standard in state law.
Has the process for the new law been finalized?
No. The PSC proposed a framework in Docket 33709 and opened a public comment process. The PSC will decide what procedures to adopt after reviewing the record.
What protects customers if a data center scales back or leaves?
Large-load agreements include minimum bills, minimum term lengths, upfront payments, and security and collateral. These protections help keep project-specific investments from becoming the responsibility of families and small businesses if a project changes or leaves.
Alabama Power’s Data Centers and Bills explainer describes how the minimum-bill and minimum-term protections work.
The Bottom Line
Alabama Power wants the public to understand the review process and how existing customers are protected. At the same time, businesses need to protect confidential commercial and financial information.
The Commission and the AG’s office receive the complete agreement and supporting analysis needed for the review.
Redacted from the public copy does not mean withheld from the PSC or the AG’s office.
Sources: Alabama Public Service Commission, Docket 33709; Senate Bill 270, enacted as Act 2026-610 and creating Alabama Code § 37-4-22.1, effective Oct. 1, 2026.
Related: Will data centers raise my Alabama Power bill? Here’s how large-load costs are handled.
Last updated: August 2026.