Published: September 2025 | Prepared by Mangum Economics for Energy Alabama
This comprehensive economic report examines the current state and untapped potential of utility-scale solar energy development in Alabama, benchmarking the state against its southeastern neighbors—Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Commissioned by Energy Alabama and produced by Mangum Economics, a research firm specializing in energy industry analysis and economic impact assessment, the report combines detailed electricity market data with rigorous economic modeling to quantify what Alabama has gained from its existing solar investments—and what it has left on the table by lagging behind regional peers. Using the IMPLAN economic impact model, the analysis translates megawatts of solar capacity into concrete numbers: jobs, wages, and tax revenue that Alabama communities could be capturing.
Key Findings at a Glance
- Alabama generated just 0.9% of its electricity from utility-scale solar in 2023, trailing Georgia (5.8%), North Carolina (9.1%), South Carolina (2.7%), and Tennessee (1.2%)
- Installed utility-scale solar capacity in Alabama stood at 604 MW in 2023, compared to 4,135 MW in Georgia and 6,653 MW in North Carolina
- Only two new solar facilities became operational in Alabama in 2023, versus 18 in Georgia and 19 in North Carolina
- Had Alabama matched Georgia’s pace of solar development, the state would have gained an estimated 16,420 additional construction job years and $234.9 million in additional tax revenue
- Had Alabama matched South Carolina’s pace, the state would have gained an estimated 4,570 additional construction job years and $65.0 million in additional tax revenue
Alabama’s Electricity Market: Context & Trends
Alabama is a net exporter of electricity, producing 154% of its in-state demand in 2023 and selling the surplus to neighboring states. However, the state’s total electricity production has declined over the past decade, falling from 150.6 million megawatt-hours in 2013 to 139.4 million megawatt-hours in 2023.
The most significant shift during this period was the move away from coal toward natural gas. Coal’s share of Alabama’s electricity production fell from 31% in 2013 to just 14% in 2023, while natural gas rose from 31% to 44%, making it the state’s dominant energy source. This shift contributed to a 31% decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from electricity production over the decade. Solar energy, which entered Alabama’s market in 2016, has grown steadily but still accounts for only about 1% of total production—compared to 4% nationally.
Alabama’s Solar Industry: TVA vs. Non-TVA Regions
Alabama’s electric utility landscape is split between two service territories: the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region, covering 13 northern counties, and the non-TVA region served by Alabama Power and other utilities, covering the remaining 54 counties. Despite the non-TVA region being nearly five times larger in land area and three times larger in population, the two regions have nearly identical installed solar capacity—327 MW in the TVA region versus 277 MW in the non-TVA region as of 2023. Alabama’s solar generation has grown substantially since 2016, rising from 31.3 thousand megawatt-hours to 1,200.7 thousand megawatt-hours in 2023, though the state still ranked 25th nationally for proposed solar capacity that year.
Regional Comparison: Alabama Falls Behind
Among five southeastern peer states, Alabama’s 604 MW of installed utility-scale solar capacity ranks second-lowest, well behind North Carolina (6,653 MW), Georgia (4,135 MW), and South Carolina (1,560 MW), and only narrowly ahead of Tennessee (576 MW). The interconnection queue—a forward-looking indicator of development activity—tells a similar story: Alabama had just 7,698 MW of total queued generation capacity as of Summer 2024, ranking near the bottom of the region, with only 2,733 MW of that total attributed to solar.
Economic Impact: Jobs, Wages, and Opportunity Cost
Using the IMPLAN economic modeling framework, the report calculates that construction of Alabama’s existing 604 MW of solar capacity has supported approximately 2,610 job years, $176.0 million in wages and benefits, and $951.1 million in economic output statewide, along with $37.9 million in state and local tax revenue. Ongoing operations of these facilities support an additional 44 jobs and $2.7 million in annual wages. The report then models two hypothetical scenarios: what Alabama would have gained had it matched Georgia’s solar deployment (4,135 MW) or South Carolina’s (1,560 MW). Matching Georgia would have meant 16,420 additional construction job years and $1.1 billion in additional wages; matching South Carolina would have meant 4,570 additional job years and $317.4 million in additional wages.
Fiscal Impact: Tax Revenue Left on the Table
Beyond jobs and wages, the report quantifies the property tax revenue that utility-scale solar generates for Alabama’s counties, school districts, and state government over a typical 40-year project lifespan. Alabama’s existing solar capacity is projected to generate $117.4 million in total property tax revenue over 40 years, split between counties ($36.3 million), school districts ($63.0 million), and the state ($18.0 million).
By comparison, matching Georgia’s level of solar deployment would have generated an estimated $830.6 million in total property tax revenue over the same period—$713.2 million more than Alabama’s current trajectory will produce from ongoing operations. Matching South Carolina’s level would have generated $313.4 million in total property tax revenue, or $196.0 million more in additional revenue from ongoing operations than Alabama’s existing investment is projected to yield.
Report Structure
The full 31-page report is organized into the following major sections:
- Executive Summary – High-level findings on Alabama’s solar standing and the economic/fiscal impact of hypothetical Georgia- and South Carolina-level development
- Alabama Electricity Market Profile – Overview of demand/supply, sources of production, environmental impact, and key takeaways
- Alabama Solar Industry Profile – TVA vs. non-TVA regional comparison, benchmarking against neighboring states, and interconnection queue analysis
- Economic Impact Analysis – IMPLAN-based modeling of construction-phase and ongoing operations-phase impacts for existing capacity, plus hypothetical Georgia-level and South Carolina-level scenarios
- Fiscal Impact Analysis – Property tax revenue projections over a 40-year project lifespan for existing and hypothetical solar investment scenarios
- Conclusion – Summary of Alabama’s solar development gap relative to peer states and the cumulative economic opportunity cost
About Mangum Economics
Founded in 2003, Mangum Economics specializes in industry analysis, economic impact assessment, and policy evaluation. The firm has analyzed the economic and fiscal impact of over 47 GW of proposed solar, wind, battery storage, and hydro projects across more than thirty states, including major projects like Dominion’s 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. The report’s project team included Martina Arel (Director – Economic Development & Energy Research), Connor Wills and Kai Amado (Research Analysts), and A. Fletcher Mangum, Ph.D. (Founder and CEO).
Methodology Note
Economic impact figures were generated using IMPLAN, a widely used regional economic impact simulation model that constructs region- and industry-specific economic multipliers based on production and trade flow data. Impacts are categorized into first-round direct effects (the solar project’s own employment and spending) and second-round indirect/induced effects (the ripple effects as that spending circulates through the local economy). Fiscal impact estimates are based on personal property taxation only, assume a 40-year project lifespan, and account for a 10-year property tax abatement applied to state and county levies, consistent with common practice for utility-scale solar projects sited outside city limits.