Two Southern states just took very different approaches to utility oversight.

In Virginia, a bill likely to become law would require Dominion and Appalachian Power to show officials in-depth distribution grid utilization data—and propose ways to squeeze more capacity out of existing assets.

Alabama went the other direction: Alabama Power charges ratepayers more than comparable utilities in the Southeast. This motivated the utility regulation bill signed by Gov. Kay Ivey last week, but critics say officials stripped it of its strongest consumer protections. Case in point: The final version dropped the requirement for regular rate cases (Alabama Power’s last formal rate case? 1982).