CEO Column

These are very unsettling times. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world, the country, the state and all of our communities very hard. Maybe you know someone, maybe a loved one, that didn’t survive the virus. I have been very fortunate thus far in that I haven’t known anyone that has become a victim of the virus.

I apologize for all the numbers. They are geeky, but important if you are interested in the true cost of electricity. If you aren’t, you can stop reading now or skip to the fourth from last paragraph and see the answer. A few weeks ago, environmental protesters argued that the Alabama Public Service Commission should

A friend told me Joe Biden said on Face the Nation the Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential elections and continue to try to interfere in U.S. politics to influence the 2020 presidential election. The Washington Post and other media outlets report U.S. officials have told Senator Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help

A few months ago, I wrote about comments I receive on my articles. I quote another reader this month.

Every week it seems another city or county announces that they will no longer allow new natural gas connections or mandate that their energy providers – electric utilities, natural gas suppliers and transportation companies – must provide carbon-free services by a certain date not too distant into the future.

The holiday season is upon us. Thanksgiving is over, and we are preparing for Christmas. As we get older, we recognize holidays are more a time for giving thanks for the many blessings of life and for remembering family than they are about turkeys and presents.

The Democratic Presidential Candidates held their Climate Change Debates earlier this week. They laid out extensive plans to save the planet from what they say is the greatest threat to our existence today. Joe Biden put forward a $1.7 trillion plan for zero carbon emissions. Sen. Bernie Sanders described the situation as similar to the crisis faced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940s. He says his $17 trillion plan will save the planet.

I watched the second round of the Democratic Presidential Debates this week. Among other issues, all 20-something Democratic presidential candidates endorse plans to reduce carbon emissions by 2025 or proposals to ban all carbon emissions by 2050 as a major plank in their platforms.

Last month I discussed Al Gore’s visit and talk in Hayneville in February and his criticism of Alabama Power Company’s Capacity Reservation Charge. I also discussed how electric utilities’ costs are incurred and how utilities recover their costs. This month I will close out the article with a discussion on how Alabama Power Company’s Capacity Reservation Charge prevents subsidization of solar customers by non-solar customers and saves poor electric customers money on their electric bill.

This article is longer than usual, so I have broken it into two parts. I start this month with a discussion on a utility’s fixed costs incurred to provide service to all customers when they need it and how those costs are recovered. I will conclude the article next month with a discussion on how solar customers are subsidized by non-solar customers without a specific solar charge.