Jeffrey Clark, President
Alabama stands at a crossroads. The state can watch economic opportunity flow to neighbors that embraced energy diversity, or leverage every resource it possesses to build an economy that works for everyone. The choice isn’t between old energy and new energy. It’s about using all of Alabama’s assets strategically to deliver affordable, reliable, and abundant power.
An “all of the above” approach isn’t just good policy. It’s the only strategy that makes economic sense and positions Alabama to compete. The state already has an impressive foundation as the fourth-largest nuclear producer with Browns Ferry, natural gas fueling forty-five percent of generation, and ranking fifth nationally in hydroelectric power. These aren’t resources to abandon. They’re the foundation to build on.
But Alabama is falling behind. While Georgia and the Carolinas embraced solar and reaped billions in economic benefits, Alabama ranks near the bottom despite excellent potential. The state could generate nearly fifty thousand megawatts from solar, enough to become an energy exporter. Georgia-level development would have created over sixteen thousand construction jobs in Alabama, but policy barriers sent that investment across state lines.
The economics are straightforward. Wind and solar are the cheapest new generation available. Paired with Alabama’s nuclear and natural gas, they create a system that keeps costs low. Natural gas and renewables aren’t competitors—they’re partners. Nuclear provides steady, emissions-free electricity. Natural gas balances the grid. Solar adds capacity quickly and cheaply. Together, they create abundance.
But this is about more than just keeping electric bills manageable. This is about economic development and opportunity in the places that need it most. Alabama’s rural communities have watched manufacturing plants close, family farms struggle, and young people move away in search of better opportunities. Energy development offers these communities something they haven’t seen in decades: major capital investment coming to them rather than passing them by.
For Alabama farmers, renewable energy represents a lifeline. Agriculture contributes seventy billion dollars annually and employs one in five workers, but since nineteen fifty, the state has lost twelve million acres of farmland. Commodity prices swing wildly. Weather is unpredictable. Input costs keep rising. Land leases from solar projects provide stable income that doesn’t depend on rainfall or markets. That steady check can mean keeping the farm in the family versus selling to a consolidator.
The beauty of renewable energy development on agricultural land is that it doesn’t force an either-or choice. A farmer doesn’t have to choose between growing crops and hosting a solar array. Solar can be designed to allow crops or grazing. The turbine takes up a tiny footprint, the rows of cotton or soybeans run right up to the base, and the farmer collects lease payments on top of whatever the harvest brings. And when these projects reach the end of their useful lives in twenty or thirty years, they’re decommissioned and the land returns to agricultural use. Farmland stays farmland. Ranchland stays ranchland.
This matters in a state where agriculture is a way of life. Rural Alabama wants to stay rural. Energy development allows exactly that while generating needed revenue. When a solar farm comes to a rural county, it becomes one of the largest taxpayers, with revenue flowing to struggling school districts, hospitals, and county governments.
Alabama also has the opportunity to attract energy manufacturing. The state’s skilled workforce, favorable business climate, and strategic location make it ideal for advanced energy manufacturing facilities. These are middle-class careers that anchor communities, and Alabama can capture more of this investment by encouraging rather than penalizing energy development.
The “Powering Growth” legislation recognizes energy capacity must expand for economic development. But streamlining permitting only works if Alabama removes barriers keeping renewable investment artificially low. Alabama Power’s capacity fees and rules limiting independent producers create headwinds neighboring states don’t impose. Georgia and the Carolinas succeeded by creating fair competition.
Alabama’s location and transmission connections position the state to export power across the Southeast. By combining nuclear baseload, natural gas flexibility, hydroelectric resources, and solar potential, Alabama can deliver abundant, affordable power that attracts industry while having surplus to sell. That’s transformative economic development.
The misinformation campaigns will push back, claiming renewable energy is unreliable despite data showing solar paired with gas and storage delivers excellent reliability. They’ll argue projects hurt property values despite studies showing otherwise. These arguments don’t hold up under scrutiny, but they’re loud and well-funded.
The facts tell a different story. Alabama’s existing diversity is a strength to build on. Nuclear provides emissions-free baseload. Natural gas offers grid flexibility. Hydroelectric delivers renewable power. Solar represents the fastest, cheapest capacity addition. Together, these resources power growth while keeping costs manageable and creating opportunity statewide.
Alabama doesn’t need to pick winners and losers. Create a level playing field and let resources compete while rural communities participate. Browns Ferry and Farley will keep providing reliable power. Natural gas remains vital. Hydroelectric continues delivering clean energy. And solar can finally contribute what neighbors already enjoy: jobs, investment, tax revenue, and farmer income.
This isn’t about ideology. It’s about economics and opportunity. It’s about giving rural Alabama tools to participate in the energy economy rather than watching prosperity happen in Georgia and the Carolinas. Alabama’s farmers need income diversification. Rural communities need tax revenue and jobs. Businesses need affordable power. An all-of-the-above strategy delivers by using nuclear strength, natural gas resources, hydroelectric heritage, and solar potential together.
The question is whether Alabama will move quickly enough to capture benefits before they’re lost to faster neighbors. Every year delayed is missed jobs, investment, and opportunity for farmers and rural communities that can’t afford to wait. The choice is Alabama’s. The time is now.