Conservation groups have filed a petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, claiming that Alabama Power has imposed “unjust” charges on customers using solar power.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, along with Birmingham law firm Ragsdale, LLC, filed the petition this month on behalf of environmental advocacy group GASP and four Alabama Power customers with solar installations. The petition calls on FERC to compel the Alabama Public Service Commission to enforce federal laws protecting solar customers from unfair treatment by their utility.

Since 2013, Alabama Power has placed a monthly fee on customers — including businesses and schools — attempting to use solar power to reduce their bills. The charge varies based on the size of the solar panel system being used; for example, a five-kilowatt solar array — average for a home system — brings charges of $27.05 per month, or $324 per year.

Keith Johnston, Director of the SELC’s Alabama Office, says the charge discourages people from investing in solar energy. “People don’t even realize that they’re subject to (the charge) until they’re trying to put solar on their roofs to save energy and save money. Then they realize that, when they pencil it out and the solar installer looks at it, it may take them decades for their investment to pay off. So it’s a disincentive for people to actually use these renewable energy sources or to try and save energy.”

The SELC had previously challenged the charge before the Public Service Commission in 2018, arguing that the fee was “an unjust, discriminatory and unfair charge to the residents of Alabama.” The challenge was dismissed by the PSC in October 2020, but in the intervening time, Alabama Power decided to increase the fee, which only applies to residences, schools and small businesses, from $5 to $5.41 per kilowatt per nameplate capacity. The PSC approved the increase.

“Our PSC has been nothing but hostile toward renewable energy, and they have actually gone out of their way to put up roadblocks for renewable energy, and it’s doing nothing but hurting the state,” said Keith Johnston, director of SELC’s Alabama office. “This country is going in that direction. Just look at the headlines every day. Our commission is holding us back, plain and simple.”

Now, the SELC has taken its complaint up one rung of the governmental ladder, to FERC, arguing that the PSC is violating the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, which prohibits electric utilities from placing discriminatory fees on solar customers, by allowing the charges to continue.

“PURPA was implemented in the 1970s, during the energy crunch, to discourage things exactly like this, from monopoly utilities taking advantage of people trying to create their own energy,” Johnston said. “We want FERC to step in and say, this is a violation of federal PURPA law and these charges are unfair, discriminatory and unjust and have not been justified.”

Other states have rejected similar fees. In 2018, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled against extra charges for solar customers, though utility company Evergy continued to collect the fees from customers anyway. In 2013, Georgia’s public service commission shot down Georgia Power’s proposed solar charge after public outcry, ruling that “this policy simply is not in the public interest.”

“We have, in the whole state of Alabama, about 300 rooftop solar customers,” Johnston says. “You go next door to Georgia, and you have thousands. In North Carolina, you have tens of thousands. That’s what will continue to happen here as long as the Public Service Commission and Alabama Power continue to hold the state back. It’s really unfortunate, because Alabama has a lot of renewable energy from the sun. We should be taking advantage of it. Other states have wised up to that and they’re doing it, but Alabama isn’t and it’s because of our incumbent, monopoly utility.”

In a statement, Alabama Power media relations manager Alyson Tucker said that the issue “was fully examined by the Alabama Public Service Commission, which included a lengthy public hearing, with the plaintiffs choosing not to pursue the case further in state court.”

“Customers with on-site generation who want backup service from the grid should pay the cost for that service,” she said. “If not, other customers unfairly pay the costs for those individuals and businesses.”

The PSC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

How FERC will react to the petition remains to be seen. Johnston, for one, has a very guarded outlook.

“I am very optimistic that we have a strong case, and I am very optimistic that FERC is interested in enforcing federal law,” he says. “But history has shown that it’s just not something they do often… .The reality is that FERC has not initiated a bunch of enforcement actions (in the past). We’ll see where FERC takes this, and we’ll decide to go after that. Part of this is just issuing a declaratory statement about the problems with these charges.”

Since 2013, Alabama Power has placed a monthly fee on customers — including businesses and schools — attempting to use solar power to reduce their bills. The charge varies based on the size of the solar panel system being used; for example, a five-kilowatt solar array — average for a home system — brings charges of $27.05 per month, or $324 per year.