Each fiscal year, including the fiscal year of the enactment of this section, there is hereby appropriated from the State General Fund the sum of $250,000.00, which funds shall be immediately deposited into a Consumer's Utility Rate Hearing Fund in the State Treasury under the Office of the Attorney General, to be drawn upon by the Attorney General for purposes of hiring attorneys, staff personnel, and expert witnesses to present the case for the consumer in utility rate increase hearings and all appeals arising therefrom. At the end of each fiscal year, any surplus remaining in the Consumer's Utility Rate Hearing Fund shall forthwith be transferred to the State General Fund.
Ala. Code § 37-1-18 (1975)