Rural electric cooperatives (RECs) were established in the 1930s to provide power rural areas not seen as profitable to large investor-owned utilities. In Alabama there are 22 rural electric cooperatives (RECs) providing power to over a quarter of Alabama residents (and over 70% of Alabama’s land mass). Rural electric cooperatives are member-owned (ie. customer owned), …
Below is the Freedom of Information Act letter that Energy Alabama submitted to Huntsville Utilities requesting that they provide information that justifies their upcoming rate hike. Information we have requested includes: Cost of service studies from fiscal year 2016 to present Any and all analysis and calculations to show the impact of the upcoming rate …
Energy Alabama Requests HSV Utilities Justify Rate Hike Read More »
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? …
What Does a Public Service Commission Do, Anyway? Read More »
Over the past decade, we as a society have become much more energy efficient; we have energy efficient light bulbs, our appliances require less watts, and we can even install solar panels onto our homes to generate our own energy. Undoubtedly, these are great steps to take if we want to preserve natural resources and …
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 …
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 …
Does a Perfect Utility Rate Design Exist? The simple answer: no. There is no perfect rate design, as there are up and downsides to each. However, we believe there is a best option, and we’ll talk about that in a later blog post. For now, let us analyze the positives and negatives of each of …
Defining PURPA Passed in 1978 as one part of the National Energy Act, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies act (PURPA), provided a major benefit to the production and integration of renewable energy. The National Energy Act was conceived in reaction to the energy crisis of 1973. It contained a plethora of legislation that would aim to …
Understanding Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) Read More »
Electricity rate design has the power to completely alter the energy sector, for better or worse. The world of electricity rate design can be a confusing one, so before we get into which rate design would be most beneficial for you and the energy sector (that’s for a later blog post!), let us first define …
The “utility death spiral” sounds pretty scary, doesn’t it? It could be if you’re a utility company. In 2013, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) released a report positing that an eroding revenue stream, declining profits, rising costs, and ever-weakening credit metrics would diminish the ability of electric utilities to survive in an increasingly off-the-grid world. …
