Alabama Power
American electrical company
Alabama Power Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a company in the southern United States that provides electricity service to 1.4 million customers in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. It also operates appliance stores. It is one of four U.S. utilities operated by the Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity.
Alabama Power is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility, and the second largest subsidiary of Southern Company. More than 84,000 miles (135,000 km) of power lines carry electricity to customers throughout a service territory of 44,500 square miles (115,000 km2).
Alabama Power's hydroelectric generating plants encompass several lakes on the Tallapoosa, Coosa, and Black Warrior rivers, as well as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and cogeneration plants in various parts of the state.
01Pollution
In 1999, the United States Environmental Protection Agency commenced an enforcement action against Alabama Power under the Clean Air Act. In 2006, the EPA announced that Alabama Power had agreed to spend more than $200 m to upgrade pollution controls as a partial settlement of this action. The settlement did not include claims regarding five coal-fired plants. Those claims proceeded to trial, and Alabama Power prevailed. However, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has stated that they intend to appeal the ruling. SELC was involved in a case against Duke Energy that was appealed to the Supreme Court in 2006.
As of 2021, AP's coal-fired James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant is the single largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the United States.
02Public benefits
In addition to generating electricity, the waters surrounding the plants offer recreational opportunities for Alabama residents and visitors.
The Alabama Power Foundation is a non-profit foundation providing grants for watershed, environmental and community projects along the Coosa River and within the state of Alabama
03Allegations of media manipulation
An investigation by National Public Radio and Floodlight News found Alabama Power paid consulting firm Matrix LLC, which in turn allegedly paid newspapers or affiliated groups which ran positive coverage of Alabama Power, namely Yellowhammer News, Alabama Political Reporter (for which Matrix designed the website), and Alabama Today.
Terry Dunn ran and won a campaign for a seat on the Alabama Public Service Commission promising to hold a formal rate hearing to investigate Alabama Power's financials and why electricity prices in Alabama are among the highest in the country. He alleges a utility company lobbyist warned him to be a team player if he wanted to keep his seat, and that utility-funded newspapers conducted a smear campaign that resulted in Dunn losing the next election and avoided the promised rate hearing.
In 2017, Matrix hired a private investigator to surveil Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning near his home.
04Power generating facilities
Fossil fuel plants
Hydroelectric plants
Nuclear plants
| Plant | Nearest City | Coordinates | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station | Dothan, Alabama | 31°13′23.32″N 85°6′47.85″W / 31.2231444°N 85.1132917°W / 31.2231444; -85.1132917 (Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Electric Generating Plant) | 1,720,000 kW |
Cogeneration and other plants
| Plant | Nearest City | Coordinates | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theodore Cogen Facility | Theodore, Alabama | 273,870 kW | |
| Washington County Cogen Facility | McIntosh, Alabama | 122,579 kW | |
| Sabic Cogen Facility | Burkville, Alabama | 32°18′29.65″N 86°31′6.43″W / 32.3082361°N 86.5184528°W / 32.3082361; -86.5184528 (GE Plastics Cogen Facility) | 105,100 kW |
| Powell Avenue Steam Plant | Birmingham, Alabama | n/a - steam production only |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Alabama Power”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Alabama Power building.jpg by Lahti213, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Gorgas Electric Generating Plant LOC HABS 180273.jpg by Jet Lowe, Public domain
- Alabama Power Company sign, Attalla, AL, US.jpg by Bubba73, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Alabama Power logo.svg by Alabama Power, Public domain
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