Our Mission
To promote reliable, affordable, and clean energy to help grow our economy, create high-paying jobs, and build public support for Alabama’s energy industry.
Solar Power and Comparing Peaches to Peaches
By: Seth Hammett, Chairman, EIA
I love an analogy – especially when it’s flawed.
A recent opinion column on solar energy in the Montgomery Advertiser leads with an analogy so full of holes that it resembles Swiss cheese. It claims that the reasonable fee charged by Alabama Power to rooftop solar customers, who also want power from the utility, is like the government charging you a tax on fruit you grow in your own backyard.
If you have a backyard – whether you grow fruit or not – you do pay a tax in the form of property tax, and that tax provides the infrastructure and services to support your backyard and your neighbors’ backyards.
So, let’s use this analogy: If you don’t pay your taxes, it’s like picking a peach from your neighbor’s tree without permission. Your neighbor pays for police and fire protection, roads, schools, and other essential services while you benefit from the same services for free. It’s not free…
Read more at the Montgomery Advertiser
Alabama Rural Broadband Coalition Continues To Expand
The Alabama Rural Broadband Coalition welcomed its newest member, C Spire, in Jasper on November 21st to announce a partnership between the Mississippi-based telecommunications company and Alabama Power that will bring fiber internet to the City of Jasper. EIA Chairman, Seth Hammett, was joined on stage at the event by State Senate Majority Leader, Greg Reed; Mayor David O’Mary of Jasper; C Spire CEO, Hu Meena; and Alabama Power’s Division Vice President, Mark Crews.
Here’s a story about the announcement by CBS 42
Darkness in Sunny California
By: Dr. Corey Tyree
California is plagued by unreliable access to electric power, a situation that will persist for years to come. It’s happening as part of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), one component of the wildfire prevention plans implemented by electric utilities and approved by regulatory commissioners appointed by the governor. During periods of significant wildfire threat, the utility with equipment in those high-risk areas shuts off the power to avoid starting a wildfire. The plan has been in place for years and implemented hundreds of times over the past decade. It is about as popular as you would imagine. If you’re wondering who or what to blame, California offers many targets…
Read more on Yellowhammer News