Consumer

Alabama Municipal Electric Authority Deploys Solar, Alabama Power Fights It

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 …

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Energy Efficient Light Bulbs 101 – At Home

Confused by which light bulb to buy? We’ve put together a short primer to (ahem!) “shine some light” on the topic for you. Here’s the key thing to know about light bulbs. If you buy junk, you’ll get junk.  Quick facts: It used to be that wattage of the bulb determined what you needed to …

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What Does a Public Service Commission Do, Anyway?

Lately, the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) has received a ton of attention around these parts. So you might be wondering, what does a public service commission do, anyway? If you only read this blog, you might think the Alabama PSC was our nemesis or something – a regulatory Joker to our energy-industry-disrupting Batman. (No? …

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Why Your Utility Bill Is So High (And What to Do About It)

It’s wintertime, and let’s face it: Your utility bill is going to be high this time of year. Even so, you might still be frustrated with your utility company when you get a bill that’s three or four times higher than normal. But before you call up your provider and give them a piece of …

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Greener State Only Leaves You With Less Green. Here’s Why.

Greener State is a new program from Alabama Power that claims to give utility customers the chance to cover up to 100 percent of their energy usage with renewable sources. Which sounds great in theory because, after all, who doesn’t like renewable energy? In practice, though, Greener State isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. …

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Probing Residential Demand Charges

What are Demand Charge Rates? We have become very accustomed to the electric bill we receive every month. This bill has different charges like sanitation, tax, etc. But the largest charge is very likely to be the electric service charge. Put simply, this charge is what the utility company charges to meet your demand, or …

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What is a Value-of-Solar Tariff?

A value-of-solar tariff, or VOST, is a rate design policy that gives customers with solar panels credit for the electricity they generate at a specific price. The credit is then applied to the customer’s utility bill. A VOST usually clarifies how much energy is sold from the customer to utility company and from the utility …

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6 Reasons Time of Use Rates Are the Best Option

Previously we discussed the pros and cons of the available utility use rates. In that post we mentioned that while none of the options are perfect we do have a favorite, so here’s 6 Reasons Time of Use Rates Are The Best Option   Time of Use (TOU) Rates will lower your bill. With some …

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