Federal Judge Rules That AL Power Solar Fee, Among Highest In US, Can Remain; Their Residential Rates Highest In US

[hatrack]

In Alabama, a years-long battle over one of the nation’s highest backup fees for residential solar customers may have finally come to an end. A federal judge ruled last week that Alabama Power can continue charging its small solar customers one of the highest standby charges in the nation, dismissing a lawsuit that argued the fee was illegal under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act.

“I am frustrated that Alabama Power solar customers like me have to pay an extra monthly fee in order to reduce our power bills,” Mark Johnston, one of the plaintiffs, said in a news release after the ruling. Solar advocates in Alabama say the fee, which charges customers with an average residential solar array around $39 per month, significantly stifles the residential solar market in the state by nearly doubling the payback time for a solar installation.

Alabama ranks 51st in residential solar capacity among U.S. states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, trailing only North Dakota, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a solar industry trade group. Per capita, Alabama ranks last. Alabama Power, which provides power to roughly two thirds of the state, charges its customers that generate their own electricity a monthly fee of $5.41 per kilowatt of capacity installed. The average size of a U.S. residential solar array in 2024 was 7.2 kilowatts, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The fee would add $38.95 each month to the customer’s bill regardless of how much electricity the customer consumes or puts back on the grid.

EDIT

Alabama Power has come under increased scrutiny for its high power bills in recent months. An Inside Climate News investigation found that Alabama Power had the highest total residential power bills in the country in 2024, and the highest electricity rates in the Southeast.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31032026/alabama-power-solar-fee-ruling/

[timms139]

1. They must

have never looked at AEP power bills .

[hunter]

2. People pay about 13 cents a kilowatt hour in Alabama.

Here in California, with our aggressive renewable energy programs, we pay about 42 cents a kilowatt hour. ( Municipal electric companies like those in Los Angeles or Sacramento charge less, which brings down the state average a few cents. )

Integrating solar electricity into a reliable electric grid is expensive.

Common "net metering" solar schemes amount to a regressive tax on people who don't have the means to install their own grid-connected solar systems.

"Net metering" is an accounting trick that doesn't accurately reflect the actual costs of integrating solar into the grid.

The motives of Alabama's electric company probably don't reflect any compassion for lower income people. They are almost certainly "anti-woke." Nevertheless, lower income people should never end up subsidizing the solar projects of affluent and wealthy people who like to brag about making their meters "run backwards" but still rely on utility companies for their electricity when the sun is not shining, which is most of the time.