By: Shannon Harris
Given Alabama's geographical location, it has long summers and generally sunny days, seems like there would be solar panels everywhere in Alabama. We seem primed to lead the nation in solar energy, so why do we have one of the lowest rates of solar energy collection and use in the country? The answer is the aggressive solar tax put into place by Alabama Power.
This tax eliminates any financial incentive that Alabama residents may have to install and use solar panels. The solar fee requires residents to pay almost five and a half dollars per kilowatt per month to connect to both a solar array and the local power grid. This means that residents using a personal solar array would be paying around fifty dollars a month to Alabama Power for not getting electricity from them. Alabama Power claims that this is to keep the power bill lower for people who are only connected to the grid, as switching between the grid and a solar array would cost a lot of power and money for Alabama Power. However, Alabama already has some of the highest electricity bills in the country, so the logic that it would save everyone money if no one used solar energy is simply not true.
While switching to personal solar arrays is cheaper for many people around the United States, in Alabama, it may end up costing people more to use solar than to hook up to the local power grid.
Switching to solar energy may not seem as efficient or convenient as staying with solar energy, but it is better for the planet and our community. Solar power is cleaner and better for the environment than traditional coal-fired power plants. This is especially true in Birmingham, where our power comes from the Miller Steam Plant. The Miller Steam Plant is the largest CO2 producer in the United States and is a major source of air pollution in Birmingham. Not only does this pollution choke our planet, but it is also choking our community to give us electricity.
While many people in Alabama may consider efficient solar energy technology of the future, it is available now and many states across the country are already reaping the benefits of using more solar energy, including Georgia and Mississippi. Georgia currently ranks 7th in the nation for solar energy and Mississippi is passing laws that provide financial incentives for residents to put up and use solar panels and further incentives for low-income residents to install solar panels. The unfortunate fact is that the Alabama Power solar tax is forcing Alabama to lag behind our neighbours, not only in environmental consciousness and sustainability but also economically and technologically.