The new Black Bear Solar Project in Montgomery County is almost operational and will provide massive cost savings to the 350,000 Alabamians who get electricity through one of the eleven municipal utilities participating in the project.
We’re talking savings to the tune of $12 million in LESS THAN ONE year!
And an estimated $40 million in savings over the next 20 years.
If I had this project in our mix of resources during 2022, we would have saved $12 million
Fred Clark, President & CEO, Alabama Municipal Electric Authority
The customers who get their power from a member of the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (AMEA) will continue to see savings far beyond the current year. Montgomery’s WSFA 12’s Ashley Bowerman was on hand to cover the dedication ceremony on October 20 and reported that cost savings over the next 20 years are expected to be at least $40 million. Stubbornly high methane gas prices are likely to drive even more savings to customers, highlighting the importance of renewable energy as a hedge against methane gas prices.
Meanwhile, Alabama Power continues to fight solar at every turn…
If you get your electricity from Alabama Power and want to see your power bill go down (or even just use some renewable energy), you may as well dream on. Alabama Power’s most recently long range plan filed with regulators shows it does not intend to build out solar installations until 2041. That’s right: No solar for Alabama Power Customers for another 17 years.
The unfathomable choice to avoid solar will cost Alabama Power customers billions of dollars over the next 17 years! That’s unthinkable to anyone other than a monopoly utility and its so-called “regulators.”
Electricity generated from the sun isn’t going to cost a penny more in 17 years than it costs today. Meanwhile, the cost of producing solar energy is declining each year and is already at lower than fossil fuel sources.
As our Executive Director Daniel Tait pointed out a few days ago:
One solar project would have saved $12 million in less than one year and just for a few local utilities. Imagine how much money the rest of Alabama could save if solar were to be widely deployed across our state.
Daniel Tait, Executive Director, Energy Alabama
Alabama Power is fighting hard to make sure you never find out how much its 1970s-era energy portfolio is really costing you. Don’t forget that Alabama Power’s last real challenge to its monopolistic ways was back in the early 1980s. While Alabama Power is busy living in the past, regular folks sure would like to see some savings.
We think it’s time for change. How about you?
Congratulations to AMEA for its successful money saving solar project. More information on the Black Bear Solar Project is available on the LightSource bp website.
Header image source: https://www.lightsourcebp.com/us/projects/black-bear-solar/
