Overview
Alabama is building new natural gas capacity and utility-scale solar projects directly tied to data center load. Alabama Power acquired a 622 MW natural gas plant to meet load growth, and state regulators approved two solar farms totaling 260 MW to supply Meta’s Montgomery-area data center.[1][5] Meanwhile, TVA signed a power purchase agreement with an advanced nuclear reactor in Tennessee to serve Google data centers in Alabama and Tennessee.[4]
Generation Projects
Natural Gas
Alabama Power is expanding gas-fired capacity to meet near-term load growth.
- Lindsay Hill Generating Station (Autauga County): Alabama Power acquired this natural gas plant for $622 million in August 2025, a major capacity addition to meet data center and industrial demand.[1]
- Plant Barry Unit 8 (Mobile County): A 727 MW combined-cycle unit entered service in 2023, one of the state’s largest recent gas additions.[2]
- Coal-to-gas conversions: Alabama Power’s 2025 integrated resource plan (IRP — a utility’s long-term plan for meeting demand) calls for Barry Unit 5 to stop burning coal by the end of 2028 and Gaston Unit 5 to repower with natural gas by the same date.[3]
Nuclear
- Hermes 2 advanced nuclear (Oak Ridge, Tennessee): TVA signed a PPA (power purchase agreement — a long-term contract to buy electricity) to purchase power from Kairos Power’s 50 MW advanced reactor. The electricity will flow through TVA to support Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.[4]
Solar
Alabama regulators have approved utility-scale solar projects directly tied to data center load.
- Stockton I and II solar (Baldwin County): The Alabama Public Service Commission approved two solar projects totaling 260 MW (80 MW and 180 MW) to supply Meta’s Montgomery-area data center. Alabama Power will purchase the output under an agreement with Meta.[5]
- Alabama Power renewable RFP: Alabama Power solicited proposals for new renewable projects in fall 2024, signaling a near-term pipeline for utility-scale solar.[6]
Transmission and Grid
Alabama utilities are advancing transmission projects to support load growth and grid reliability.
- New Liberty transmission project (Cherokee and Calhoun counties): TVA published a preferred route map for a proposed transmission line and new substation in northeast Alabama.[8]
- Redstone Arsenal No. 3 transmission project (Madison County): TVA is routing a proposed transmission line tied to the Redstone Arsenal area.[9]
- Regional planning context: Alabama Power participates in SERTP (Southeastern Regional Transmission Planning — a regional planning process for new transmission lines). The 2025 regional analysis documents a yearly planning cycle that screens facilities 100 kV and above and performs contingency checks. This iterative process can lag fast-growing data center load.[10]
Battery Storage
- Gorgas Battery Facility (Walker County): Alabama Power is building a 150 MW BESS (battery energy storage system — a utility-scale battery facility) on the former Plant Gorgas coal plant site. It is the state’s first utility-scale battery project.[11]
Data Center Power Agreements
Alabama has two named PPAs tying clean energy projects to data center operators.
- Meta + Alabama Power solar PPAs: The Stockton I and II solar projects are approved as part of Meta’s Montgomery data center agreement, with Alabama Power purchasing the output.[5]
- TVA + Kairos + Google PPA: TVA will buy power from the Hermes 2 advanced nuclear plant, and Google will procure clean energy attributes to cover data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.[4]
Interconnection Queue
- Queue size: Interconnection.fyi reports 48 active Alabama generation interconnection requests totaling 8.67 GW, with solar and storage projects dominating the pipeline.[7]
- Planning bottlenecks: SERTP’s annual planning process is regional and iterative, with constraints identified in 100 kV and above facilities. That cadence can be slow relative to data center timelines, especially when multiple utilities must coordinate.[10]
What to Watch
- How fast Alabama Power clears its 8.67 GW interconnection queue, particularly for solar and storage projects tied to data center load.
- Whether additional data center operators follow Meta and Google in signing PPAs for new generation in Alabama.
- TVA’s transmission upgrade timeline in northeast Alabama and the Redstone Arsenal corridor.
Sources
[1] Dennis Pillion, “Alabama Power Gets Approval to Buy $622 Million Natural Gas Plant, Expecting More Data Centers,” Inside Climate News, 2025-08-05, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05082025/alabama-power-lindsay-hill-natural-gas-plant/ (accessed 2026-01-08).
[2] Alabama Power, “Plant Barry Unit 8 now serving customers,” 2023-11-03, https://www.alabamapower.com/press-releases/2023/plant-barry-unit-8-now-serving-customers.html (accessed 2026-01-08).
[3] Alabama Power Company, “2025 Integrated Resource Plan Summary Report,” 2025, https://www.alabamapower.com/content/dam/alabama-power/pdfs-docs/company/compliance---regulation/2025-irp.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).
[4] Kairos Power, “Google, Kairos Power, TVA Collaborate to Meet America’s Growing Energy Needs,” 2025-08-18, https://kairospower.com/external_updates/google-kairos-power-tva-collaborate-to-meet-americas-growing-energy-needs/ (accessed 2026-01-08).
[5] Dennis Pillion, “Alabama Regulators Approve Two-Year Electric Rate Freeze and Two Solar Projects for a Meta Inc. Data Center,” Inside Climate News, 2025-12-03, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03122025/alabama-public-service-commission-approves-rate-freeze-data-center-solar-projects/ (accessed 2026-01-08).
[6] Alabama Power, “Alabama Power accepting requests for renewable energy proposals through Oct. 15,” 2024-09-10, https://www.alabamapower.com/news/clean-energy/alabama-power-accepting-requests-for-renewable-energy-proposals-through-oct—15.html (accessed 2026-01-08).
[7] Interconnection.fyi, “Latest Active Alabama Generation Interconnection Queue Requests with daily data updates,” https://interconnection.fyi/?state=AL (accessed 2026-01-08).
[8] Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), “New Liberty, AL preferred route of proposed transmission line (PDF),” 2024-09-11, https://tva-azr-eastus-cdn-ep-tvawcm-prd.azureedge.net/cdn-tvawcma/docs/default-source/transmission-projects/transmission-map-pdfs/new-liberty-al-preferred-route-of-proposed-transmission-line-(pdf).pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).
[9] Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), “Redstone Arsenal No. 3, AL open house handout map (PDF),” 2024-03-19, https://tva-azr-eastus-cdn-ep-tvawcm-prd.azureedge.net/cdn-tvawcma/docs/default-source/transmission-projects/transmission-map-pdfs/redstone-arsenal-no-3-al-open-house-handout-map-3-19-2024.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).
[10] SERTP, “2025 Regional Transmission Planning Analyses,” 2025, https://www.southeasternrtp.com/docs/general/2025/2025%20SERTP%20Regional%20Transmission%20Planning%20Analyses%20Summary.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).
[11] Alabama Power, “Alabama Power to build state’s first utility-scale battery storage system on retired power plant site,” 2025-03-03, https://www.alabamapower.com/news/company/alabama-power-to-build-state%E2%80%99s-first-utility-scale-battery-storage-system-on-retired-power-plant-site.html (accessed 2026-01-08).