Public Hearing to Consider Future of Alabama Power’s ‘Solar Tax’

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2019/11/FEATURE.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:5184;s:6:"height";i:2916;s:4:"file";s:19:"2019/11/FEATURE.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:17:"FEATURE-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"FEATURE-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Mary Scott Hodgin
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] =>  WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1650050940 
1574151647

Birmingham’s Eagle Solar and Light is one of a handful of solar installation companies in Alabama. About 90% of their customers are commercial clients, such as banks or manufacturers. But Paul Freeman, Eagle Solar’s sales director, says they occasionally get calls from residents who are thinking about installing solar panels. 

“Most folks that call us are very interested in reducing their power bill,” Freeman says. “Once they find out that the Alabama Power company has this reservation fee that ends up consuming about 40 to 50% of their savings per month, it makes it a difficult choice for them.”

Freeman says homeowners often choose not to go with solar.

This reservation fee, which some refer to as a solar tax, applies to residents who install solar systems and remain connected to Alabama Power’s grid. Alabama Power started charging it a few years ago at $5 a month per kilowatt nameplate capacity. For the average homeowner who might install a 5-kilowatt system, that means a $25 monthly charge on top of the regular fees that all customers pay the utility provider. 

Alabama Power officials say the fee covers the cost of maintaining backup electricity that solar users need on a rainy day. But environmental advocates are not buying it.

“We contend that there’s no need for a backup charge, that the charge as it is, is unjust, unreasonable and against the public interest,” says Keith Johnston, attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. 

Johnston and others want the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC), the agency that regulates state utilities, to eliminate the fee. Environmental groups filed a complaint with the commission in 2018. But Alabama Power officials say the charge is fair, and they’ve proposed an increase from $5 per kilowatt capacity to $5.42. 

Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for SEIA, the national solar trade association, says most states do not impose this kind of fee. 

“That’s pretty regressive and it’s in fact not common,” Gallagher says. “Because regulators in almost every state where this kind of proposal has come up has rejected it.”

According to Gallagher, a growing number of states encourage solar investment with tax breaks and other incentives, but not Alabama.

“Alabama stands near the bottom of installations in the US on a state-by-state basis,” he says.

 

Sam Yates, owner of Eagle Solar and Light, says Alabama is missing out on an opportunity to grow statewide solar investment. In addition to Alabama, his company installs systems in Georgia and North Carolina, states that both rank nationally in the top 10 for solar installations. 

“So it’s not a matter of the southeast not getting enough sun,” Yates says. “It’s a matter of the regulatory policy here.”

The PSC will hold a public hearing Thursday to hear testimony from those who both support and oppose Alabama Power’s solar backup fee. Officials say the commission will consider the arguments and issue a decision at a later date.  

The public hearing will take place at 9 am at the Carl L. Evans Chief Hearing Complex, RSA Union Building, 100 North Union Street, Room 900, Montgomery, Alabama.

 

Note: Southern Environmental Law Center is a supporter of WBHM programming. Our news and business departments operate independently. 

 

 

Melinda French Gates on what billionaires with ‘absurd’ wealth owe back to society

In a new memoir, French Gates writes about the end of her marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and her ongoing philanthropic work, directing funds and attention to women's health initiatives.

Trump plans order to cut funding for NPR and PBS

President Trump and GOP members of Congress have accused the public broadcasters of biased and "woke" programming. The president plans a rescission, which would give Congress 45 days to approve the directive or allow funding to be restored.

Sudan’s war is 2 years in and shows no signs of slowing, as talks take place

As "pathway to peace talks" are held in London - minus the main protagonists - Sudan tips into a third year of catastrophic civil war, as violence surges in the Darfur region of the west of the country and activists warn of an unfolding genocide.

Bill would give give non-violent, aging prisoners a chance at freedom

Should the Second Chance Act be enacted, judges could review certain cases where an individual was sentenced to life without parole under the Habitual Offenders Act for potential resentencing. 

States push Medicaid work rules, but few programs help enrollees find jobs

Some lawmakers are pushing to require that Medicaid recipients work in order to get or keep coverage, and some states already try to help them find jobs. But the effects of those efforts are unclear.

5 notable new books that are all over the map (in a good way)

These books confront readers with the recent past and distant future, bring them to southeastern Africa and an alternative Japan, and bedeck their pages with subversive cartoons and lush landscapes.

More Front Page Coverage