Lawsuit says Alabama blocking solar power with unfair fees
The fees imposed by the Alabama Power company on customers who generate their own electricity with rooftop or on-site solar panels are now the subject of a federal lawsuit against the state’s regulators. Environmental groups argue that punishing fees are purposely discouraging the adoption of solar power in the sun-rich state. Alabama Power maintains that the fees are needed to maintain the infrastructure that provides backup power to customers when their solar panels don’t provide enough energy. The Southern Environmental Law Center and Ragsdale LLC filed the lawsuit on Monday against the Alabama Public Service Commission on behalf of four Alabama Power customers who installed solar panels on their properties and the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, or GASP. “We’re asking the court to require the Commission to follow the law so that Alabama Power will stop unfairly taxing private solar investments,” said Keith Johnston, director of SELC’s Alabama office. “Alabama is being left behind by other Southern states when it comes to solar generation, and the jobs, bill savings, and other benefits that come with it,” SELC’s statement said. “These charges are a significant roadblock to our state’s success.” A spokesperson for the Public Service Commission wrote in an email that “it would not be appropriate for the Alabama Public Service Commission to comment on pending litigation.” Alabama Power charges a $5.41-per-kilowatt fee, based on the capacity of the home system, on people who use solar panels or other means to generate part of their own electricity. That amounts to a $27 monthly fee on a typical 5-kilowatt system. The average solar panel setup for home costs about $10,000, according to the law center, and the fees add another $9,000 or so over a system’s 30-year lifespan, dramatically increasing costs and reducing any financial benefit for the homeowner. Alabama Power maintains that the fees are needed to maintain the infrastructure that provides backup power. A spokesperson for Alabama Power said, “We believe Alabama law and sound rate-making principles were followed in reaching a fair determination of the cost for this service.” “It is important to us that all of our 1.5 million customers are treated fairly. There is nothing about the lawsuit that changes our position – we believe the lawsuit is without merit. Customers who want to rely on the company to back up their own generation should pay their share of associated costs,” Alabama Power spokesperson Alyson Tucker wrote in an email. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the environmental groups’ request to take enforcement action last month against the Public Service Commission. However, two members of the five-member panel issued a separate statement expressing concern that Alabama regulators may be violating federal policies designed to encourage the development of cogeneration and small power production facilities and to reduce the demand for fossil fuels. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
GASP and Party for Socialism and Liberation set to support Sex Worker Rally being planned in Birmingham
A rally in support of sex workers is being planned in the city of Birmingham, and while the organizers won’t release the location details publicly they have laid out their goals, speakers, and aligned social groups in several public Facebook posts. The first speaker listed is Nina Morgan of GASP. According to her bio on their website, “She became radicalized first and foremost by her parents, who were divorced but often had conversations with her and her twin brother about the social ills of the world.” GASP will also have a table at the event alongside the Party for Socialism and Liberation – Birmingham. Their group has recently focused on their support of Palestine, ending the sanctions against Cuba, and support of the Black Lives Matters movement. Stated in their latest Facebook post is, “Without the economic, political, military and diplomatic backing of U.S. imperialism, the state of Israel would not last long.” According to The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) website, the day is an annual event. The group’s website says they “exist to uphold the voice of sex workers globally and connect regional networks advocating for the rights of female, male, and transgender sex workers.” NSWP’s work is based on three core values: Acceptance of sex work as work. Opposition to all forms of criminalization and other legal oppression of sex work (including sex workers, clients, third parties*, families, partners, and friends). Supporting self-organization and self-determination of sex workers The event follows efforts by local law enforcement to crack down on sex work. Al.com reported in February that more than a dozen people were arrested in a reverse prostitution ring in Shelby County. Regarding the arrests, Sheriff’s Major Clay Hammac stated, “The purpose of these operations is to aggressively pursue patrons of the sex-trafficking industry, which is directly connected to human trafficking. Furthermore, law enforcement wishes to demonstrate a zero-tolerance for criminal solicitation and attack the demand for these type enterprises.” An earlier version of this story ended with a note that read, “We have hidden the name of the organizer and author of the posts as she has stated that she has received harassment directed towards her.” That was in response to her posting, “I’m tired of the creeps in my DMs on here and hesitate to even open them because of that.” Additionally she noted, “Regarding the upcoming S3x W0rker (SW) rally, comments on the flyer were (stop sign) understandably halted (stop sign) by group admin as the dialogue became more disrespectful.” She has since made it clear that she does not agree with our decision to not publish her name. We have since updated the story to reflect the event organizer.
Lies and coverups: Did Ethics Commission attorney lie?
The narrative that an Alabama environmental group, activists and some journalists sold in November sounded menacing: “Indictments had been brought against Donald Trump‘s Regional EPA appointee Trey Glenn and former business partner, Scott Phillips, a state environmental board member.” But the problem with this narrative, in their own words, is that these charges were an effort of the environmentalists at Alabama’s GASP themselves. GASP claimed in a November tweet, “Just so y’all know, Gasp made this possible. We were the ones whose presentation was shared by Glenn and Phillips. We paid for the exhibits in PACER so we could piece this story together. We did the leg work and the organizing. We need your support to keep doing it.” Once GASP “did and the leg work and organizing,” the indictments were spearheaded and pushed for by Ethics Commission lawyer Cynthia Propst Raulston. If Raulston’s maiden name sounds familiar, it’s because her sister, Stacie Propst, is the former the Executive Director of GASP. Stacie Propst and others took issue with the fact that a presentation she was to give before the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) commission, which Phillips sat on, was given to Glenn before the meeting. The presentation, which had been formally submitted to the commission, was already subject to Alabama’s open records laws, but that didn’t stop Propst’s supporters from crying foul once it was brought to light Phillips shared it with Glenn (who then shared it with his clients). AL.Com’s John Archibald described Propst’s in a column decrying the fact it was shared saying, “So Propst walked headlong into a buzz saw. She was, according to videos and minutes of the meeting, greeted with tough questions about data, degrees of health danger and whether you’d have to have a condition that makes you eat dirt to be harmed…” Certainly, there’s more to the charges being brought than just GASP and their former executive director’s sister, right? Kyle Whitmire from AL.Com broke the news of the indictments with a statement provided by the ethics commission. Whitmire reported, that, “The Alabama Ethics Commission lead the investigation after being asked for help by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office.” He supported that with the following statement from the commission. “The Alabama Ethics Commission is committed to working with Alabama’s District Attorneys, and all enforcement agencies, whenever needed and asked to do so, to ensure enforcement of Alabama’s Ethics laws on behalf of the citizens of Alabama; and these indictments are evidence of that,” Alabama Ethics Commission Director Tom Albritton said in a press release. “I want to recognize the hard work from the Jefferson County DA’s office which requested our assistance in this important matter; and from our office, Cynthia Raulston, the Commission’s General Counsel, as well as Special Agents Dustin Lansford, Byron Butler and Chief Special Agent Chris Clark for their hard work and dedication to the enforcement of our Ethics laws.” That would be great except, The former Jefferson County DA, Mike Anderton, under penalty of perjury, has filed a formal declaration with the Circuit Court of Jefferson County that directly contradicts Whitmire’s reporting and the referenced Ethics Commission press statement. In it he says that Raulston was behind the entire case and that his office “had no plans to present any related matter to the grand jury.” He goes on to say his entire role in the case was just to facilitate Raulston’s use of the Jefferson County grand jury again, at her repeated request. Read Anderton’s declaration, as filed, below: So at the end of the day either the statement and claims from Allbrighton are factually incorrect or the sworn statement from Anderton is. Fortunately, we have the answer to how this all started, the tweet from Gasp says it all. So what’s next for those involved? At the February 11 arraignment of Glenn and Scott, where the charges were changed and some dropped, the defense filed for dismissal of the case in part for “malicious prosecution.” The judge made it clear that he would hold a hearing on the motion and that Raulston should be prepared to deal with the facts. The facts seem to point very clearly to misconduct on the part of the Ethics Commission and toward malicious prosecution.
