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The Energy Intelligence Center (EIC) has a strategic partnership with Jordan Energy which is a top solar solutions provider. This article includes some highlights as well as Solar power news in Alabama. EIC’s initial founder, Charlie Szoradi, has a long-standing relationship with Jordan Energy’s founder, Bill Jordan. Charlie engaged Bill and his team for the solar system on Charlie’s beach house in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Charlie also recently introduced Jordan Energy to one of EIC’s largest clients for major industrial rooftop systems in Pennsylvania and Texas. Click to learn more about Sustainability_Charlie on Instagram. For his youtube channel click here: Learn from Looking.
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Here is an example of some Solar Power News in Alabama:
Alaska has more residential solar installations than Alabama. So does Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi and every other state except North and South Dakota. Georgia has 10 times as much residential solar as Alabama, and South Carolina has 17 times as much as Georgia.
But that could change soon for Alabama.
For years, solar advocates have pointed to a hefty solar fee implemented by Alabama Power, the state’s largest electric utility, as the biggest reason why Alabama has lagged behind other Southern states in rooftop solar, and now a federal court battle is looming to determine whether the fee is legal or not.
Alabama Power, which supplies power to much of Alabama, charges customers with rooftop solar a monthly fee of $20-32 for an average-sized system. If the fee is found to violate federal law, some advocates believe Alabama would see a surge of rooftop solar installations, as the state catches up to the rest of the nation.
“Customers can’t save money by going solar in Alabama, because the utility has structured things to make it impossible for customers to save money,” said Sean Gallagher, vice president of state regulatory affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group representing solar installers and manufacturers.
“And so the utility, Alabama Power, has effectively quashed rooftop solar in the state.”
According to the SEIA’s state residential solar data, Alabama ranks 49th out of 51 among U.S. states, plus Washington D.C.
A separate group, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy ranked Alabama last among Southeastern states in total solar development in its fourth annual Solar in the Southeast report, released last week. SACE also named Alabama Power as one of two “SunBlocker” utilities in the Southeast, based on the clean energy group’s projection that in 2024, Alabama Power would still have less solar than the 2020 Southeast utility average.
Overall, the SACE forecasts solar power in the Southeast will increase 110% from 2020 to 2024, driven by large expansions planned in Georgia and South Carolina, which already have far more solar than Alabama.
Alabama Power’s capacity reservation charge was approved by the Alabama Public Service Commission in 2013 at $5 per kilowatt of solar capacity per month and increased to $5.41 last year.
Alabama Power said the fee is needed to pay the costs of having back-up power available to customers with solar or other means of non-emergency generation who choose to stay connected to the electricity grid.
“This issue was fully examined by the Alabama Public Service Commission, which included a lengthy public hearing, with the plaintiffs choosing not to pursue the case further in state court,” the company said in April, when groups turned to federal regulators to challenge the fee.
