Contact: Emily Bosch emily.bosch@sierraclub.org
June 10, 2020
MONTGOMERY, AL -- Today the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously voted at its regularly scheduled June meeting to approve a new gas-fired plant called Barry Unit 8 at the Barry power plant outside of Mobile, AL. The Commission also opted to defer making a decision on Alabama Power’s proposal to build new solar power and energy storage facilities.
This decision follows a petition filed by Alabama Power (a subsidiary of Southern Company) in the fall of 2019, which sought permission to charge its customers well over a billion dollars for an unprecedented expansion of its electricity generating capacity. The proposed expansion, which includes purchasing power from two gas plants in addition to building Barry Unit 8, would increase Alabama Power’s capacity by nearly 20%.
In March, Sierra Club and other intervenors challenged Alabama Power’s expansion at a multi-day hearing before the PSC. Sierra Club presented expert testimony about the financial risks for customers if Alabama Power continues to invest in gas-fired power plants.
Carol Adams-Davis, a volunteer leader in Sierra Club’s Mobile Bay group, and member of the Alabama Chapter’s Executive Committee, released the following statement:
“The Public Service Commission has issued a devastating but foreseeable blow to folks across Alabama who are demanding more clean energy. This proposal will only make dirtier a site that is already thoroughly contaminated from burning gas and coal, which has led to an ocean of extremely dangerous coal ash pollution at Plant Barry. We don’t want additional fossil fuels being burned near Mobile or anywhere else in the state. We are going to continue to insist on the cost-savings offered by solar and energy storage, and we intend to keep challenging the dirty gas and coal that Alabama Power is burning at Plant Barry.”
Stephen Stetson, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign released the following statement:
“The Southern Company announced last month that it intends to move the company to “net zero” carbon emissions, but then we see this expensive and unnecessary fossil fuels proposal move forward. The PSC's decision will handcuff Alabama Power’s customers to a new fracked gas plant for the next four decades, despite the company having failed to demonstrate a need for this additional electricity. After three long days of hearings, it’s embarrassing and regrettable that the PSC severed the solar component while approving all of the expensive and polluting power plants.” ###
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.