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One of the best ways to cut back on Alabama's coal-fired, greenhouse gassing electricity production would be if we could get enough people to transition to using clean energy. Some of the best solutions for homeowners to personally to do their part would be adding solar panels to their roof, and if you live in an area that gets consistent wind, using windmills for power. Both of these solutions are inconsistent (unpredictable as to when you are able to produce power), and involve a substantial investment that takes many years to pay back. One of the ways to make it more affordable is to have a consumer friendly net-metering law, which allows those homeowners who produce their own electricity to "run the meter backwards" when you are producing excess power. Alabama does not currently have a net-metering law, but the Public Service Commission is currently working on one (Docket # 30066).

Nevertheless, getting a substantial amount of people to convert to Solar Power is a huge task because of the capital outlay required. However, there may be a solution. There is a company that has proposed actually buying, installing and maintaining a solar system for your home. In exchange the homeowner would agree to pay for the electricity generated by the system at the current rate that you are paying your local energy provider (such as Alabama Power) at the time you signed the contract. You can sign the contract for 1, 5, 10 or 25 years with the main advantage of longer contracts is that you have a fixed rate for all electricity derived from your panels, regardless of the rising rates of electricity from your local energy supplier. With net-metering, all of the excess power you create rolls back your meter during the day, creating credits that can be used at night or on cloudy days.

A program like this could create a substantial amount of solar homes in a short period of time, and could pay big benefits during the summer on hot sunny days, when the solar homes could be feeding back to the grid and hopefully cause the coal-powered plants to cut back or become unnecessary. The amount of CO2 and other pollutants cut back on a daily basis could quickly become substantial.

This program will not be available until we can get a good consumer friendly net-metering law in Alabama, but take a look at the company and the program. I think it has a tremendous potential: http://renu.citizenre.com/