What do the Georgia Tea Party, low-income advocates, faith leaders, and green business have in common? They were all at the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) this week calling for more clean energy in Georgia Power’s long term energy plan – some for more solar, some for expanded efficiency programs, some for retirement of coal [...]
On March 28, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a revised final Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) rule for new air emission sources (i.e. new power plants). The revised final rule is slightly weaker than the original December 2011 rule, due in part to power plant developers’ complaints that the original standard was unattainable, but [...]
Last week I had the privilege of accompanying experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) on a three-day tour of Georgia and Alabama to highlight coal plants that should be considered for retirement. UCS is a national, science-based non-profit that advocates for policy decisions that are based on credible research. UCS’s report, Ripe for [...]
A new report from the Arise Citizens’ Policy Project released March 1, “Public Utility Regulation Without the Public: The Alabama Public Service Commission and Alabama Power” [PDF] details ways Alabama’s utility regulatory system leaves customers paying some of the highest bills in the country and Alabama Power profiting far more than other utilities nationwide. According [...]
Ulla Reeves, SACE’s Regional Program Director, contributed to and edited this blog. On January 7, Georgia Power Co. announced that it would shutter 15 generating units – about 2,000 megawatts (MW) or 2 gigawatts (GW) of coal and oil capacity – as part of the three-year “Integrated Resource Plan” it will file with the Public [...]
Onshore wind power can work and be profitable in Alabama. That’s according to Pioneer Green Energy, the experienced wind energy developer behind the Shinbone Wind Energy Center proposed near Gadsden, in northeastern Alabama. The project will sell 18.4 MW of electric capacity to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), roughly equivalent to 2/3 of the total electricity used by homes in the county where the project is located.
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy applauds Georgia Power’s January 7 announcement that it will seek approval to retire several of its least economical, oldest, and dirtiest electric generators – 2061 MW worth of mostly coal-fired units, plus a handful of smaller oil-fired units. We’re glad the company is finally seeking retirement of these units; the [...]
While candidates Kaye Shipley, Cheryl Mathis, and Ab Roesel were edged out yesterday in board elections at Snapping Shoals EMC, an Atlanta-area utility co-op, we congratulate them on a hard-fought campaign to bring accountability to their co-op and shed light on its involvement with a controversial coal-fired power plant proposal. The election took place on [...]
On Wednesday morning, July 11, the Newton Citizen reported that three candidates were running for the board of Snapping Shoals EMC, motivated in part by their opposition to the proposed coal-fired Plant Washington and the EMC’s lack of transparency about their spending toward the project. Later that same day, the EMC and Power4Georgians (P4G, the [...]
On April 10, Power4Georgians (P4G) settled a legal challenge with several environmental groups over our appeal of Plant Washington’s air pollution permit. Afterward, plant developer Dean Alford told the press that Plant Washington is ready to proceed, with its permit in hand and a new backer, retired Colorado utility exec Tim Taylor. He couldn’t be [...]
