All posts by Daniel Tait

Daniel Tait is a Research and Communication Director for the Energy and Policy Institute.

Alabama Power earned $1+ billion in profits over industry average on the backs of customers since 2014

The profits on top of industry average, and allowed by the Alabama Public Service Commission, total to just over $700 per Alabama Power customer account over the years 2014-2018.

/ July 1, 2020

Georgia Power Set to Automatically Enroll New Residences in Demand Charge Rates

Georgia Power will begin levying demand charges on new residential premises starting in January 2021. The new rate schedule, approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) in December 2019,...

/ June 24, 2020

TVA cuts “flexibility” promises to local power companies by 80%, enters into questionable contracts

Key Points: The Tennessee Valley Authority promised its local distribution utilities the ability to self-generate up to 5% of their own electricity, what it termed “flexibility”, as an incentive to...

/ May 29, 2020
Coal-fired Plant Scherer

Southern Company Pledges Net Zero Emissions by 2050 but Doubles Down on Fossil Fuels

Southern Company unveiled an updated “net-zero” carbon goal yesterday at its Annual Meeting which relies heavily on negative emissions to enable continued investment in fossil fuels such as coal and...

/ May 28, 2020

Southern Company’s Lobbying Disclosures Obscure State-Level Information from Investors, Public

CEO Fanning gets credit toward bonus for coal closures after opposing federal regulations.

/ April 30, 2020
Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning on CNBC

Tom Fanning Floats Misleading Updated Greenhouse Gas Goal

The updated greenhouse gas goal, as described by Fanning, would allow Southern Company to claim “net-zero” emissions by taking credit for transportation electrification, despite the company’s continued use of fossil...

/ April 16, 2020

Mississippi Power Doubles Down on Uneconomic Coal Despite Southern Company’s “Low to No Carbon” Claim

Mississippi Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, is spending as much as $96.8 million to extend operations at the coal-fired Plant Daniel, despite the fact that the utility could save customers...

/ March 17, 2020

Dominion and NextEra Takeover Bids for Santee Cooper Provide Little to No Benefit to South Carolina

Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy were named the top picks to manage or buy the state-owned utility Santee Cooper, in an analysis released on February 11 by the South Carolina...

/ February 18, 2020

Entergy New Orleans made misleading claims that ROE cut meant financial disaster

When the New Orleans City Council threatened to cut Entergy New Orleans’ high profit margins last year, the utility company responded aggressively: it said that such a move would not...

/ February 3, 2020
Jeffrey Lyash TVA CEO, Discusses Potential MLGW defection

TVA’s latest long-term partnership contract cedes no ground to local power companies

The Tennessee Valley Authority has ceded practically no ground to local power companies seeking more contract flexibility to manage increased demands for renewable energy from customers, despite requests from the...

/ January 20, 2020