How Southern Company Gas Uses Regulatory AI to Prepare for the Witness Stand

Preparing to testify in a rate case is among the most demanding tasks in utility regulatory work. A single proceeding can run more than a year, with filings arriving in successive rounds. By the time a witness takes the stand, they may need to reconstruct their thinking on questions they last addressed five years earlier.

John Cogburn has lived this experience many times. As Director of Rates, Tariffs, and Regulatory Planning at Southern Company Gas, he has prepared testimony, defended positions on cross-examination, and managed company filings across multiple jurisdictions. At LET’S GO! 2025, HData’s annual customer conference, Cogburn sat down with HData Enterprise Customer Success Manager Selwyn Yeh to talk about how he uses HData’s Regulatory AI during one of the most important phases of a rate case: the final days and hours before he takes the stand.

The Long Arc of a Rate Case

A rate case rarely feels linear when energy professionals are working on it. After a company files, the proceeding goes quiet, but only briefly. Then come data requests from intervenors and commission staff, testimony filed by intervenors and staff, rebuttal testimony from the company, and, finally, the evidentiary…