An Alabama Senate committee advanced bills to halt new solar developments for a year and establish new workplace safety and reporting regulations during its Wednesday meeting.
Senate Bill 354, sponsored by Senator Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, would place a one-year moratorium on the construction of new “large-scale” solar power facilities.
Albritton explained to the Senate Transportation and Energy committee that his bill was prompted by the “great many questions” citizens in his district have regarding new solar developments, including public outcry against a proposed $300 million 4,500-acre solar project in Stockton.
“The public is very concerned with what the reclamation requirements are, if any. They’re concerned about any ecological matters that come into play, and lots of questions that I don’t know how to answer,” the bill’s sponsor said. “I’m asking that we pass this moratorium on construction of any new ones, until we can find and get some answers as to those policies and procedures.”
Albritton’s bill would not impact solar farms that have already been built or the progression of solar projects that are already in progress upon the bill’s enactment.
The committee adopted an amendment to the bill presented by Senator Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, that excludes the region served by the Tennessee Valley Authority from compliance with SB354.
“We have some concerns in our area with Redstone Arsenal, and our airport up there about resiliency and redundancy that they need,” Livingston said. “The last thing you want is a war fighter to have a little hiccup, because we’ve had a little power interruption.”
“You know how special TVA is,” Albritton responded. “If the North Alabama folks want to, uh, move forward with their plants and such, I don’t have an objection to it.”
During a public hearing held for the legislation, the sole speaker, John Dodd, Energy Alabama policy manager, spoke in opposition to the legislation.
“Communities deserve transparency, environmental safeguards, and the ability to be heard before major projects of any type are approved. But this bill does something very different,” Dodd said. “SB354 would impose a blanket statewide prohibition, and I know with the friendly amendment, it wouldn’t really be statewide anymore, but from central to South Alabama, it would be a prohibition on new large-scale solar facilities—something that isn’t defined in this bill.”
“That’s not targeted oversight, in our opinion, that’s effectively hitting a kill switch on an entire industry overnight,” he added. “In a state that prides itself on being pro-business and welcoming to investment, that sends a troubling signal.”
Dodd said while he understands the public frustration that prompted the bill and the “legitimate concerns” raised regarding the Stockton solar project, Energy Alabama believes improvements to the oversight process are necessary instead of a wholesale ban on new solar developments.
“Stockton, with its sensitive wetlands and protected species, is exactly the type of place where careful review should happen. But the problem there wasn’t solar energy. The problem there was the process,” he said. “If the process failed the public, then we should fix the process, improve notice requirements, strengthen these environmental reviews, and make sure communities have a seat at the table before these decisions are made. What we shouldn’t do is respond by shutting down an entire sector of Alabama’s economy.”
Senator Robert Stewart, D-Selma, voiced opposition to Albritton’s bill, expressing his worry that the legislation would limit energy diversification and innovation in the Black Belt.
“I represent the Black Belt, which is having an increasing amount of solar development,” he said. “I want us to consider the long-term implications. A lot of Alabamians are coming to us about ‘how do we lower our power bills?’ And energy diversification is an important method, and I just don’t want us to limit ourselves as a state, and particularly, I don’t want my district to be limited.”
The committee voted to give SB354 a favorable review, with Stewart and Senator Merika Coleman, D-Birmingham, in opposition.
If enacted into law, the one-year ban on new solar projects mandated by the bill would begin immediately.
SB341, or the Alabama Work Zone Safety Act, sponsored by Senator Josh Carnley, R-Enterprise, would establish a pilot program until June 2028, authorizing the Alabama Department of Transportation and Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority to install and operate an automatic speed enforcement camera system in a work zone on an interstate highway.
“It gives us an opportunity to look at the data and see what potential enforcement can do to, you know, hopefully, slow people down in these work zones,” Carnley said. “I’ve got a sheet of people that have dealt with loss of life in their family members because of you know, just basically call it what it is, carelessness, recklessness, going through these work zones, really just disregard for people who are out there working.”
Carnley explained that while state troopers are often posted in interstate work zones, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency does not staff enough officers to patrol all work zones. He also emphasized that officers pursuing speeders when workers are present can create additional dangers for workers and drivers.
“They don’t want to be speeding through there chasing somebody, trying to slow them down to give them a ticket. So, their hands are tied,” he said. “I know there’s resistance to cameras. I hear it, and I can’t tell you there’s a foolproof method out there, to alleviate fears, but right now, this is the best thing we’ve got. 20 states have adopted a policy like this to allow work zone safety cameras.”
Carnley explained that he has worked with ALDOT to compile a list of work zones eligible for the pilot program, and it would be up to the transportation department to pick one zone in which to deploy cameras for the initiative.
Civil traffic citations would be issued to drivers who are recorded exceeding the posted speed limit by more than ten miles per hour in the zone by ALEA.
ALDOT and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency would be required to prepare a report on whether the program was successful in improving safety in the studied work zone.
The committee adopted an amendment presented by Senator April Weaver, R-Brierfield, allowing drivers who wish to challenge their citation to do so through an appeals process to be established by ALEA.
The pilot program would be funded through ALDOT.
The committee unanimously voted to give the bill a favorable review.
SB340, sponsored by Senator Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, would require the operators of underground utility facilities to respond to facility location requests that have not been completed within 20 days of their submission before any other requests.
The bill would make operators liable for any costs incurred by the requester due to a project delay and prohibit operators from closing requests without physically verifying the location of the facility.
“We in the surveying and the design side, call in locates anywhere from one to two to five to ten to twelve times, and sometimes just never get a locate, never get any information,” Chambliss said.
“So, what that’s doing is it’s making us have to guess where those utilities are in order to move projects along, and then when the contractor gets out there, he actually gets a locate done and we have to redesign everything in the field,” he added.
The committee voted unanimously to give the bill a favorable review.
All pieces of legislation advanced by the committee will now be eligible for a vote on the Senate floor.
