Barbara Webb and Doyle Webb at the state Supreme Court.

Arkansas journalists received a press release Wednesday that said the state Ethics Commission is investigating Public Service Commission Chairman Doyle Webb, husband of state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Webb, over accusations that he gave Entergy a sweetheart deal in exchange for contributions to his wife’s unsuccessful bid to become chief justice.

KATV ran with the story initially, posting it online but mistakenly attributing the press release to the Arkansas Ethics Commission. The TV station then pulled it down. But attention to the underlying issue is still warranted, as Arkansas Times editor emeritus Max Brantley explains in this Twitter thread:

Here’s the backstory. In a complaint originally filed in 2017, utility regulators in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana alleged that Entergy and its subsidiaries mismanaged the Grand Gulf nuclear plant in Mississippi, resulting in customers in all three states being overcharged by hundreds of millions of dollars. Mississippi settled its part of the lawsuit in June 2022 for $300 million, but Entergy offered Arkansas only $142 million. 

The Public Service Commission, then chaired by Ted Thomas, rejected Entergy’s offer at the time. In a filing with a federal regulator in August 2022, the commission said Entergy’s settlement offer was “a low-ball amount.” (An independent expert has estimated the $142 million represents a little more than a third of what Arkansas and Arkansas customers stood to recoup if the case had gone to trial.) But as Arkansas Times reporter Matt Campbell wrote last year, the commission in November then accepted an offer from Entergy nearly identical to the one it rejected a year before. The about-face came after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Doyle Webb as head of the commission in January 2023.

So is the Arkansas Ethics Commission now investigating Webb? We don’t know.

“The AEC is required to keep pending cases confidential and has a policy of neither confirming nor denying the pendency of a particular matter. It was reported in error that the AEC had issued a release,” Ethics Commission Director Graham Sloan told the Arkansas Times Thursday.

The press release shared with journalists Wednesday came from Stephanie Johnson, a member of the Saline County Republican Committee who admittedly has a beef with Webb separate from the seemingly lowball deal he made with Entergy.

Webb is president of the Republican Party of Saline County, which owns the star-spangled, bunting-clad building on the Benton square that served as headquarters of the similarly named but wholly separate Saline County Republican Committee until the committee was evicted on July 2. (Skirmishes among factions of Saline County Republicans seem to be ongoing.)

“I am a member of the Saline County Republican Committee, but other than that I have no affiliation,” Johnson said.

But the ethics complaint Johnson filed has to do only with the Entergy agreement, a tangled Webb that Arkansas Times reporter Campbell has been attempting to unwind. Johnson said Webb flubbed the Entergy settlement to such a degree that he should lose his job.

“Given his apparent and perceived cozy relationship with Entergy, I actually would like to see him removed from his position,” Johnson said during a phone interview Friday.

While Johnson supplied the letter and vouched for its authenticity, Sloan, the ethics commission director, would not confirm or deny that it was real.

Her complaint, outlined here, suggests the Webbs are beholden to Entergy thanks to some donations Entergy employees gave to settle the debt of Barbara Webb’s unsuccessful campaign for the Supreme Court’s chief justice position, and that Doyle Webb could use his authority as director of the Public Service Commission to reward Entergy for their largesse.

“What’s gonna happen when Entergy comes to him wanting a rate increase?” Johnson mused. “Is he gonna say yes? Probably.”

The Webbs have a long and icky history of dubious morality. This is far from the first time a Webb has been criticized for personal enrichment schemes, ranging from merely tacky to ethically questionable. Almost as if by magic, the accusations never seem to set them back any.

Barbara Webb is safely ensconced on the state’s highest court. And in addition to his plum seat atop the Public Service Commission, a role that nets him almost $150K a year, Doyle Webb is an Arkansas Republican Party staple, hopping from role to role (and dole to dole).


Austin Gelder is the editor of the Arkansas Times and loves to write about government, politics and education. Send me your juiciest gossip, please.