Last week, we watched in dismay as Energy Alabama and GASP argued to state regulators that the state’s largest electricity provider, Alabama Power, shouldn’t be able to add new solar and natural gas power generation to meet customer demand over the winter. But over more than a decade of advocacy, we’ve seen that’s exactly what groups like Energy Alabama and GASP do – bash utilities regardless the cause or situation.
This week, those groups are at it again, waging a misguided campaign against Alabama Power Company that does absolutely nothing to help customers. This time, they’re saying Alabama Power Company hasn’t done enough to help customers during the COVID-19 crisis, despite an announcement earlier this week by the company and its regulators that no customer affected by the virus outbreak and resulting economic fallout would be disconnected.
The reality is that groups like Energy Alabama and GASP would have attacked Alabama Power Company no matter what the company said. That’s because the real goal is to score political points by trying to tear down a utility, even if that utility is doing the right thing for its customers.
The same groups that are trying to keep a utility from keeping its customers warm in the winter is now politicizing the COVID-19 crisis. No one should be surprised. Energy Alabama and GASP exist to advance their own anti-utility agenda, not for the good of customers.