Alabama Power gets approval to build solar facility in Butler County

Alabama Power received approval this week from the Alabama Public Service Commission to build its proposed 80-megawatt HEP Greenville solar project in Butler County.

Further, the commission approved a contract between Alabama Power and Wells Fargo to allow the bank to subscribe to a portion of the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from the newly approved facility. The 10-year contract stipulates that Wells Fargo will receive about 47 percent of the RECs from the solar facility, equivalent to 80,000 MWh annually. Alabama Power will market the remaining RECs from the project to other customers.

The project is expected to create about 250 construction jobs and generate more than $6 million in tax revenues for Butler County and the city of Greenville. Commercial operation is expected to begin by January 2024.

“We appreciate the commission’s vote today and are excited about our partnership with Wells Fargo to build on our focus of delivering long-term value to our customers while growing solar resources,” Tony Smoke, Alabama Power’s senior vice president of Marketing and Economic Development, said.

Since 2017, Wells Fargo has met 100 percent of its global electricity requirements with renewable energy through the purchase of RECs. To date, the bank has entered into over 120 long-term contracts, supporting the development of over 825 megawatts of net-new renewable energy.

“Leveraging our annual energy spend to advance green infrastructure development in the U.S. and create new revenue streams for communities is one way we are helping contribute to more sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities,” Richard Henderson, head of Wells Fargo’s Corporate Properties Group, said. “We appreciate the collaboration with Alabama Power to advance our enterprise sustainability goals in a way that benefits the local economy.”

This is the fourth project approved by the commission under the Renewable Generation Certificate program following the Anniston Army Depot, Fort Rucker, and LaFayette solar projects. Overall, the commission has approved about 170 megawatts of solar generation under this certificate.