Alabama Power customers to pay $740 million after coal plant closes

The William Crawford Gorgas Electric Generating Plant near Parrish is set to be retired in April, but Alabama Power customers will be repaying about $740 million in costs related to the Walker County coal power plant long after it closes, according to documents the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Alabama Power’s parent group, Southern Company, disclosed in its latest public 10-K filing that “approximately $740 million of net investment costs [from Plant Gorgas] will be transferred to a regulatory asset at the retirement date and recovered over the affected units’ remaining useful lives.” That will allow Alabama Power to recover the costs of investments it made in the coal-fired power plant, plus a profit margin set by the Alabama Public Service Commission, from customers through their electric bills.