AL — Power Infrastructure Updated 2026-07-17

Alabama

SERC Solar Storage Data Center PPAs

1) Grid operator and market structure

  • Vertically integrated utility structure: Alabama is outside an organized RTO/ISO market for most retail utility service; Alabama Power and TVA-area utilities operate in a vertically integrated Southeast planning environment rather than a centralized ISO/RTO market. This is reflected in Alabama queue reporting that is organized around Southern Company and TVA rather than a single regional ISO/RTO queue. Southeast Renewable Energy Alliance, 2025-12-08
  • PSC-regulated retail service: Alabama Power states that the Alabama Public Service Commission reviews and approves utility agreements for large-load customers through a standardized regulatory process. Alabama Power, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Rate freeze context corrected: Alabama Power’s previously approved framework froze its base rates through 2027, but HB475 now bars every PSC-regulated retail electric utility from increasing the retail base rates in place on October 1, 2026 before January 1, 2029. Neither provision freezes total bills, which can still vary with consumption and non-base-rate adjustments. Alabama Power, accessed 2026-07-17; Alabama Legislature HB475 enrolled, 2026-04-01

2) Interconnection queue

  • Updated Alabama queue depth: SREA’s fall 2025 Alabama generator interconnection queue update reports nearly 10 GW of renewables in the Alabama queue, a significant revision from the older 3.8 GW figure. It identifies about 5.1 GW of solar, 3.5 GW of hybrid resources, 1.25 GW of standalone batteries, and 8.2 GW of gas in Southern Company’s queue, with no wind projects listed. Southeast Renewable Energy Alliance, 2025-12-08
  • Queue ownership / structure: SREA describes Alabama’s queue as shaped almost entirely by vertically integrated utility planning, with Southern Company dominant and TVA contributing a smaller share. Southeast Renewable Energy Alliance, 2025-12-08
  • FERC Order 2023 implementation: FERC Order 2023 reformed generator interconnection procedures nationally, and Southern Company’s 2026 cluster-study materials show the Southeast moving to cluster processing, readiness requirements, withdrawal-penalty rules, and public interconnection information tools. FERC, accessed 2026-07-17; Southeast Renewable Energy Alliance, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Data-center-specific queue category: Public generator interconnection queue summaries are technology-based and do not identify data centers as a separate interconnection category. Data centers appear instead through utility load forecasts, retail service contracts, and project-specific substations or service infrastructure. Southeast Renewable Energy Alliance, 2025-12-08; Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025
  • No new Alabama Power load-interconnection tariff located: Through July 17, the main new Alabama Power mechanism was PSC Docket 33709 for contract-review procedures, not a separately published large-load interconnection tariff or queue. TVA, which serves north Alabama through local power companies, separately proposed new large-load pricing, capacity-commitment, siting, transmission, operational, and equipment requirements and review of cumulative loads above 100 MW. Alabama PSC Docket 33709, opened 2026-06-29; TVA rate-change letter, 2026-02-18
  • June FERC large-load orders do not directly govern Alabama’s principal utilities: On June 18, FERC ordered six RTOs/ISOs to justify or reform large-load tariff rules concerning transmission studies, cost shifting and transparency, co-location, flexible service, and nearby generation. The named operators were PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, ISO-NE, and NYISO; Southern Company and TVA were not respondents, so the orders are an important national benchmark but not a new Alabama Power or TVA load-interconnection rule. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2026-06-18

3) Ratepayer protection

  • 2026 statutory change - SB270 / Act 2026-610: SB270 was enacted April 17, 2026 as Act 2026-610 and becomes effective October 1, 2026. It adds Section 37-4-22.1, defining a large load data center customer as a utility customer with expected total peak demand of at least 150 MW at one or more contiguous parcels, meeting the data processing center definition, and operating solely for data processing. Alabama Legislature SB270 enrolled, 2026-04-09; Alabama Legislative Services Agency SB270 fiscal note, 2026-05-04
  • Incremental-cost recovery standard: SB270 directs the PSC, when reviewing retail electric service contracts for large load data center customers, to consider whether contract pricing and terms are expected to recover incremental generation, transmission, distribution, electricity-sale, fuel, and tax costs attributable to the data center and promote positive benefits for other retail customers. Alabama Legislature SB270 enrolled, 2026-04-09
  • Contract terms: SB270 expressly references contract terms such as minimum contract length, upfront payments, security/collateral, and minimum payment as relevant terms and conditions. Alabama Legislature SB270 enrolled, 2026-04-09
  • Broader 2026 PSC law - HB475: HB475 was enacted April 3 and effective June 1. It expands the PSC from three to seven district-based members, creates a governor-appointed Secretary of Energy beginning January 2027, requires at least one annual public utility meeting, and freezes regulated electric retail base rates from October 1, 2026 through January 1, 2029. Governor Ivey appointed the four initial additional commissioners on June 17 for terms beginning January 18, 2027. The statute is not data-center-specific, but it changes the regulator and rate framework that will oversee large-load contracts. Alabama Legislature HB475 enrolled, 2026-04-01; LegiScan, 2026-04-03; Governor Kay Ivey, 2026-06-17
  • Utility-stated cost-allocation policy: Alabama Power states that large-load customers, including data centers, pay the full fair cost of facilities, upgrades, and capacity needed to serve them, and that large-load contracts may include minimum bills and minimum terms if projects scale back or leave. This is a utility statement rather than an independent audit. Alabama Power, accessed 2026-07-17
  • PSC Docket 33709: The PSC opened a generic proceeding on June 29 to establish a process for Alabama Power contracts with large-load data-center customers. Following the July 7 vote, a July 10 ruling assigned the chief administrative law judge and a July 16 ruling recognized the Attorney General’s intervention while allowing public participation without intervention. Initial comments were due August 6 and replies August 21. The docket remained open on July 17; no final tariff, contract-review process, or public cost-allocation methodology had issued. Alabama PSC Docket 33709, opened 2026-06-29; Alabama PSC July Commission Meeting, 2026-07-07; Alabama PSC procedural ruling, 2026-07-10; Alabama PSC intervention ruling, 2026-07-16; Alabama Daily News, 2026-07-09
  • Dedicated data-center tariff status: No separate publicly identified Alabama Power data-center tariff was found; the data-center-specific statewide mechanism is PSC review of individual retail electric service contracts for 150 MW-plus large load data center customers, with Docket 33709 defining the process. Alabama Legislature SB270 enrolled, 2026-04-09; Alabama PSC Docket 33709, accessed 2026-07-17
  • TVA large-load rate proposal for north Alabama: TVA proposed a new customer class or contract option for very large loads, an upfront capacity-commitment charge, customized pricing, and siting/transmission/equipment conditions; it also proposed removing data centers from manufacturing rates and credits and clarifying Board review of cumulative loads above 100 MW. These were proposals to local power companies, not a final Alabama tariff as of July 17. TVA rate-change letter, 2026-02-18

4) Generation adequacy

  • IRP load-growth driver: Alabama Power’s 2025 IRP states that anticipated additions of large load customers, including data centers, are forecast to drive the overall increase in commercial-class electricity consumption over the forecast horizon. Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025
  • Capacity deficits: The 2025 IRP identifies both short- and long-term capacity deficits over the 20-year horizon, with short-term deficits largely addressed through resources already certified by the PSC and long-term needs requiring further measures. Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025
  • Limited external support: The IRP flags uncertainty around external-market support because surrounding regions also face resource adequacy and transmission-constraint issues. Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025
  • Resource pipeline: SREA’s queue update shows both a large renewable/storage queue and 8.2 GW of gas in Southern Company’s Alabama-related queue, indicating that dispatchable gas remains central to planning alongside solar, hybrid, and battery resources. Southeast Renewable Energy Alliance, 2025-12-08
  • Meta-linked solar approvals: Alabama regulators approved two solar projects connected to Meta’s Montgomery data center service agreement in December 2025, with 80 MW and 180 MW projects expected by December 31, 2028. Inside Climate News, 2025-12-03
  • Meta Montgomery expansion and energy commitments: Meta’s expanded Montgomery plan is now more than $1.5 billion and nearly 1.3 million square feet. Meta said the campus’s electricity use will be matched with 100% clean and renewable energy and that Meta-supported projects were adding 227 MW in Alabama; these are company commitments and should not be confused with the campus’s undisclosed peak demand. Meta, 2025-09-23
  • TVA 2026 IRP status: TVA’s preliminary-final 2026 IRP says actual and forecast demand is rising primarily because of population and data-center growth. TVA opened the plan for comment through July 22 after a July 2 webinar and scheduled the final IRP and environmental impact statement for Board consideration in August; it therefore was not final as of July 17. TVA, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Southern Company federal financing: On February 25, DOE announced a $26.5 billion loan package for Alabama Power and Georgia Power projects, including generation, plant upgrades, and roughly 1,300 miles of transmission/grid work across both states; reporting identified $4.1 billion for Alabama Power and described the buildout as driven in part by data-center demand. The DOE figures cover both utilities and should not all be attributed to Alabama. U.S. Department of Energy, 2026-02-25; Associated Press, 2026-02-25

5) Utility load forecasts

  • Commercial-class load risk: Alabama Power’s IRP ties commercial-class demand growth to large load customers such as data centers, making project timing, scale, and ramp rates a forecast risk. Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025
  • Birmingham BHM01 load: Local reporting describes Nebius’s Birmingham BHM01 as a planned 300 MW project, with a 100 MW first phase and 200 MW second phase. BirminghamWatch, 2026-04-24
  • Bessemer Project Marvel load: February 2026 reporting on Alabama data centers described the proposed Bessemer Project Marvel campus as a 1 GW data center, enough to make it a major single load for utility planning purposes if built at that scale. WBRC, 2026-02-18
  • Google Jackson County expansion: Google’s June expansion announcement did not publish a campus peak-demand number, but it said Google has contracted for more than 300 MW of new generation in the TVA region, will pay for all power and directly driven infrastructure costs, and participates in TVA demand response during peaks and extreme weather. Google, 2026-06-15
  • TVA large-load forecast signal: TVA reported in May that data centers represented roughly 18%-20% of its industrial load and were expected to double by 2030. The figure is TVA-system-wide, not Alabama-only, but it is relevant to the local power companies serving northern Alabama. WSMV, 2026-05-27
  • Digi Power X / Cerebras load: Digi Power X’s filed Cerebras agreement covers 15 MW at its Columbiana campus by December 15, 2026 and 40 MW by the end of Q1 2027, with the additional 25 MW conditioned on adequate financing. Digi Power X reported that the Phase 1 substation was complete, grid interconnection finalized, and an Alabama Power delivery agreement in place. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2026-05-08; Digi Power X material change report filed with the SEC, 2026-05-08
  • Other disclosed sub-150 MW loads: DC BLOX has contracted for a roughly 5 MW Birmingham expansion and is evaluating an additional adjacent expansion up to 60 MW; Edged US’s proposed Project Gateway in Prichard is 8 MW; and the preliminary Tallassee mill concept was described as 10 MW expandable to 20 MW. These are material local loads but fall below Act 610’s 150 MW threshold individually. DC BLOX, 2026-04; Project Gateway, accessed 2026-07-17; WSFA via WBRC, 2026-04-29; Alabama Legislature SB270 enrolled, 2026-04-09
  • Projects without published MW figures: Neither Beacon’s proposed $6 billion Calvert campus, DC BLOX’s two-building Montgomery campus, Construction Partners’ $20 million combined Dothan headquarters/data-processing center, nor Fairfield’s preliminary colocation proposal had a public MW figure in the reviewed materials. They should not be assigned speculative loads. Lagniappe, 2026-07-03; WBRC, 2026-02-18; Alabama Department of Commerce, 2026-03-19; Data Center Dynamics, 2026-07-17
  • Thresholds now embedded in law: Alabama now has statutory data-center thresholds tied to energy demand: HB399 uses 100 MW for certain tax limitations, and SB270 uses 150 MW for large-load data center customer PSC contract review. Alabama Legislature HB399 enrolled, 2026-04-09; Alabama Legislature SB270 enrolled, 2026-04-09

6) Behind-the-meter / co-location / direct PPAs

  • Utility-contract model remains most visible: Public Alabama examples continue to center on utility service contracts and utility-procured resources rather than behind-the-meter power plants or direct co-located generation. Inside Climate News, 2025-12-03; Alabama Power, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Birmingham onsite generation restrictions corrected: Birmingham’s final June 9 rules prohibit routine onsite power generation except solar panels and fuel cells. Backup generators remain allowed during outages or emergencies and for limited daytime testing, but cannot provide grid support; future hyperscale projects also must use closed-loop cooling and disclose generator and utility-capacity details. City of Birmingham, 2026-06-09; City of Birmingham, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Nebius backup-generation issue: Local reporting on BHM01 described temporary generators and backup diesel engines as concerns in the Oxmoor debate; Nebius representatives said backup engines would run only limited hours. BirminghamWatch, 2026-04-24
  • Beacon Calvert generator and cooling proposal: Beacon says its proposed Calvert campus would use closed-loop cooling and no diesel generators. This is a developer plan, not an operating result, and the company had not disclosed a peak load by July 17. Data Center Dynamics, 2026-07-06

7) Transmission constraints and upgrades

  • Regional transmission limits: Alabama Power’s 2025 IRP states that transmission constraints can limit support from external markets, which matters as large loads increase internal resource adequacy needs. Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025
  • Project-specific infrastructure: Nebius says it will pay for electricity and needed infrastructure upgrades for BHM01; the Birmingham Industrial Development Board account says Alabama Power confirmed sufficient capacity and that Nebius would pay the full cost of utility improvements. Nebius, accessed 2026-07-17; Birmingham Times, 2026-06-26
  • Google / TVA infrastructure and flexibility: Google says it will cover infrastructure costs directly driven by the Jackson County expansion, has contracted for more than 300 MW of new TVA-region generation, and reduces load through demand response during peaks and extreme weather. Google, 2026-06-15
  • Digi Power X / Alabama Power infrastructure: Digi Power X reported a completed Phase 1 onsite substation, finalized grid interconnection, and an Alabama Power power-delivery agreement for its Columbiana campus. The statement was company-filed; the reviewed public filing did not include the utility agreement or transmission-study details. Digi Power X material change report filed with the SEC, 2026-05-08
  • BHM01 zoning determination: Birmingham officials determined that the BHM01 switching station/substation elements did not require the specific zoning-board approvals residents had sought, clearing a local procedural obstacle for the next phase. BirminghamWatch, 2026-04-24
  • Public detail gap: The public IRP does not provide a line-by-line transmission upgrade plan for data-center service, so discrete upgrades should be tracked through PSC filings, local permits, and utility interconnection/service-agreement records. Alabama Power 2025 IRP, 2025