Alabama’s Republican legislative leadership has recommended six candidates to Governor Kay Ivey for two seats on a restructured Alabama Public Service Commission, formally beginning the appointment process created under this year’s sweeping utility-regulation law, which is intended to expand the voting public’s choice and reduce the cost and burden of utilities for households and businesses across the state.

In two letters dated June 1, 2026, and addressed to the governor, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) and Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) put forward three candidates for a two-year commissioner term and three for a four-year term.

The recommendations are among the first concrete steps in implementing the Power to the People Act, passed overwhelmingly by lawmakers and signed by Ivey earlier this year.

The law expands the PSC from three members to seven, creates a cabinet-level Secretary of Energy to oversee the commission, freezes utility base rates through January 2029, and ultimately moves to commissioners elected by congressional district.

During the transition, the governor seats the initial new members from candidate lists submitted by legislative leaders.

The four-year slate

For the four-year seat, the leaders recommended Ronald L. Burgess Jr., John Olshefski and Rickey Steele.

Burgess, of Opelika, is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General who served as the 17th director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. His résumé notes a 38-year Army career and a subsequent tenure as executive vice president of Auburn University, from which he retired in 2023.

Olshefski, of Huntsville, spent a decade as senior Vice President for Customer Care at Huntsville Utilities, one of the larger municipal gas, electric and water systems in the Southeast. He also served on the Huntsville City Council and, earlier, in senior Army logistics roles and as garrison commander at Redstone Arsenal.

Steele, of Stevenson, is an operations manager in the power-generation and construction industry with more than 40 years of experience, including roles at the Tennessee Valley Authority, TECO Energy and Day & Zimmermann. His résumé describes work across fossil, hydroelectric, natural gas and solar projects. He has served as mayor of Stevenson.

The two-year slate

The leaders recommended Fred Johnson, Morgan Murphy and William Newman for the two-year seat.

Johnson, retired in July 2025 after 23 years as Chief Executive of Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative in Rainsville, capping a career in rural telecommunications and electric distribution that his résumé says spans more than four decades. He earlier served as the cooperative’s chief financial officer and, before that, as CFO of Sand Mountain Electric Cooperative. A certified public accountant, Johnson served on the Alabama 9-1-1 Board from its inception until 2025, including a term as its chair, and spent nine years on the board of NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association. He holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a doctorate in business administration. 

Murphy, managed the nuclear-energy and national-defense portfolios for U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and, has held posts in both Trump administrations, most recently as a senior public-diplomacy adviser to the special envoys for Ukraine and Russia. A captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve and an Afghanistan veteran, he describes himself as a longtime advocate for thorium-fueled and small modular reactors. Earlier in his career he was an executive editor at Southern Living, and his résumé lists an MBA from the University of Oxford and study at the U.S. Naval War College. He recently staged a bid for U.S. Senate.

Newman, currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the former Director of Governmental affairs and policy for the Business Council of Alabama, according to his résumé. 

Under the law, Ivey selects the new commissioners from the recommended candidates, with the appointments subject to Senate confirmation.

The initial appointed seats are slated to convert over time to elections held by congressional district, completing the commission’s transition to a seven-member elected body. The legislation also directs the commission to hold at least one public informational meeting each year with utility representatives.