Northport Couple Appeals to Circuit Court Over 'Unfair' Solar Rates Charged by Alabama Power

By Staff Writer November 24, 2025

MONTGOMERY, AL — A Northport couple, Paul and Kitty Whitehurst, has filed an appeal in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, seeking to overturn an order by the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) that dismissed their petition challenging the rates set by Alabama Power Company for solar-generating customers.

The Whitehursts' attorneys, including Mr. Whitehurst himself, filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings on November 20, 2025, arguing that the PSC-approved rate structure is "not 'just and reasonable'" and is effectively penalizing customers who invest in rooftop solar. The case, Paul Whitehurst et al v. The Alabama Public Service Commission, stems from the PSC's August 2025 unanimous vote to dismiss the couple's petition without conducting a hearing, which the appellants contend is a violation of state law.

Extreme Rate Disparity at Heart of Dispute

The appeal centers on what the Whitehursts describe as a staggering disparity between the price they pay for electricity and the price they receive for their excess solar power sold back to Alabama Power.

The couple installed a solar system at their office in 2023 with the goal of providing most or all of their power needs and selling the excess back to the utility. According to the legal brief, for electricity purchased from Alabama Power:

In one seven-month period ending in July 2025, the couple paid an effective rate of $4.41 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

In one of the most extreme billing periods, the effective rate they paid was as high as $5.90 per kWh.

In contrast, during that same period, Alabama Power purchased 6,486 kWh of their excess solar power and paid them only an effective rate of about $.04 per kWh. The Whitehursts claim they are paying 110 times more per kWh for the small amount of power they buy than what the utility pays them for an equal amount of power.

A major factor in the high effective purchase rate is the utility’s Capacity Reservation Charge, which is applied monthly regardless of how much power a solar customer purchases. The Whitehursts are charged $49.61 every month (based on a 9.17 kW peak usage multiplied by the $5.41/kW rate), a fee which they state "eats up any credit we have for selling Alabama

Power our excess solar".

Part of a Broader Legal Battle

The Whitehursts' legal fight is the latest action in a long-standing, larger dispute over the fees levied on solar customers in Alabama. Advocacy groups and other plaintiffs have challenged the PSC’s approval of the $5.41 per kilowatt charge, arguing that it is discriminatory and violates the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA).

The Whitehursts' brief argues that their petition "is not solely for us, but for other small businesses like us" who are discouraged by a rate structure that makes solar investment economically difficult. They are asking the Circuit Court to reverse the PSC's dismissal order and compel the commission to hold a public hearing on the fairness and reasonableness of Alabama Power’s rates.