UPDATE: This post was updated on Friday, June 12, 2020 at 12:40 Central Time to provide more context about the Public Service Commission’s vote on Tuesday and to correct an error so that the article states the proposed solar plus storage put downward pressure on customer bills.
Yesterday, the Alabama Public Service Commission, led by Twinkle Cavanaugh, capitulated to demands from Alabama Power to raise your utility bill in the midst of a pandemic and unprecedented economic stress.
The Commission voted unanimously allowing Alabama Power to:
- Build Barry Unit 8 (a new 726-megawatt gas plant)
- Buy Central Alabama (an existing 915-megawatt gas plant)
- Enter into a power purchase agreement with Hog Bayou (to buy electricity from an existing 238-megawatt gas plant)
- Acquire 200 megawatts of undetermined Demand Side Management and Distributed Energy Resources
The Commission did not approve the proposed solar + storage projects (400 megawatts).
We will be blunt. These Commissioners do not serve Alabamians. They serve Alabama Power. They serve their campaign donors. You deserve better.
It is has never been enough for the greedy executives like Mark Crosswhite at Alabama Power to be one of the most profitable utilities in the country on the backs of the one the poorest states in country.
No. They petitioned for unneeded and expensive new generation simply because they could. Their parent company (Southern Company) is reeling from years of bad decisions in Mississippi and Georgia. Alabama Power and the Alabama Commission keep on delivering shareholder value at your expense.
We intervened, along with Gasp, to protect Alabamians and we were represented in this case by the Southern Environmental Law Center. Alabama Power’s own data showed that solar-plus-storage was the least cost resource and would actually put DOWNWARD pressure customer bills. Not to mention the serious and significant flaws in its planning and forecasting methods. The Commission didn’t approve the cost-effective renewables.
Even the Alabama Attorney General’s Office had serious concerns about the request’s impact to Alabamians and wanted Alabama Power to bear some of the risk if this request didn’t deliver for consumers. Alabama Power, of course, does not take risks. It makes you take risks. It reaps the profits from your risks. The Commission didn’t blink an eye.
Don’t forget that advocates filed a petition to overturn Alabama Power’s solar taxes back in April of 2018! Has the Commission acted? No. But when Alabama Power demanded something, the Commission jumped.
Let us be as clear as we can. We strongly disagree with this Commission’s decision to saddle Alabamians with decades of costs and practically eliminate the benefits we should be enjoying from energy efficiency and renewable energy.
But, Energy Alabama does not participate in these issues to waste our breath. We do not exist simply to fight utility companies.
We want to move this state forward. We want the jobs. We want the savings. We want the cleaner air. We want the choices for consumers. All these things are possible with energy efficiency and renewable energy.
This is not and has never been a partisan issue. Alabamians of all stripes want more renewable energy, not less. Polling shows strong support for renewables in Alabama among conservatives AND liberals from the Saturn V in Huntsville to the Port of Mobile.
If the Public Service Commission is unable or incapable of handling this issue, it is incumbent upon the legislature to act. We have seen too many neighboring southern states grow massive amounts of renewable energy jobs. In light of the economic devastation from COVID-19, we will need every last one of those jobs created in Alabama and as fast as possible.
If you too are ready for growth rather inaction, it is time for YOU to take action.
- Become an Energy Alabama member – https://alcse.org/support-energy-alabama/energy-alabama-friend/
- Support Energy Freedom Alabama – http://energyfreedomalabama.com/
