2829 2nd Avenue South, Suite 282 Birmingham, AL 35233 (205) 745-3060 Fax: (205) 745-3064 SouthernEnvironment.org

December 17, 2013 The Honorable Richard Shelby United States Senate 304 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-0103 Phone: (202) 224-5744 senator@shelby.senate.gov Dear Senator Shelby:

Last Friday, we were made aware that you formally asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to investigate whether the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), in the pursuit of its clean energy goals and programs, had misallocated funds awarded by DOE.

I can answer that question unequivocally: No. SELC has never received DOE funds. In fact, of the small amount of federal funds my organization has received over the years, none of it has gone to energy work. In the interest of full disclosure, I have attached a summary of all federal funding we have received in recent years. In short, your letter calling for an investigation based on misleading information brought to you by the Alabama Coal Association was misguided.

However, your letter also expressed concern for the impact of the transforming electricity industry on the people of Alabama. We share that same concern. In a state that continues to rely heavily on polluting coal-fired generation, homeowners in Alabama pay the highest monthly electric bills in the contiguous U.S., and our environment continues to suffer. We lose on both counts.

Against this backdrop, numerous national and global changes are revolutionizing the energy industry and are raising questions about the economic wisdom of continuing to rely so predominantly on coal. Natural gas prices continue to be low and are projected to remain so. Energy efficiency programs are growing across the country, saving people money and reducing demand. Alternatives such as wind and (especially) solar power are cost-competitive with fossil fuels. And EPA rules that will protect our water and air, and that apply to many energy resources – but particularly coal – are finally coming into force, after years and even decades of delay.

These changes are upon us; how Alabama chooses to manage the opportunities and challenges they impose will dictate both our bills and the stewardship of our natural environment.

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Unfortunately, in Alabama, to even begin a conversation about energy, our families and businesses face significant hurdles. As you may know, just last week, the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) held the one meeting of the year to discuss Alabama Power Company’s environmental compliance expenditures. The company currently projects to spend more than $1 billion over the next three years to upgrade and continue operating its aging fleet of coal-fired power plants. These expenditures will lock in Alabama’s over-reliance on coal as an energy source at a time when other southeastern utilities are moving to diversify their energy portfolios. Meanwhile, Alabama Power is doing virtually nothing with solar energy and energy efficiency, even as other states move rapidly to embrace these non-polluting and cost-saving technologies. Simply put, Alabama is falling behind on the energy front.

As citizens, ratepayers, and environmentalists, we attended the PSC meeting to exercise our democratic right to ask questions about a proposal of such significance to our state and its resources. We were disappointed that the bulk of the “informal meeting” was consumed by presentations from the utility. In the end, citizens were afforded no more than 45 minutes to seek the utility’s justifications for hundreds of millions of dollars of expenditures.

We were also disappointed that the Alabama Coal Association saw fit to distract attention from the issues at stake by ginning up false controversy about the funding of nonprofit organizations like ours, simply because we are advocating for clean energy solutions. The sad result was that it diverted public attention from whether the PSC should approve $1 billion in environmental expenditures without full and public consideration of whether there are cheaper, cleaner alternatives.

The charges and insinuations made by the Alabama Coal Association have no basis in fact. They serve at most as an unwelcome distraction, and like most baseless accusations will soon fade away. But when they have faded, the real problems and challenges for the people of our state will remain. As will we, still attempting, in good faith, to raise the questions and offer the answers that we think will lead to a better future for the state. We hope that you will join us in that conversation.

We would welcome any opportunity to sit down with you to talk more about our longstanding work in Alabama and ways we might work together in the future.

Sincerely yours,

Keith Johnston

Managing Attorney, Birmingham Office

cc: The Honorable Ernest Moniz Secretary U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue SW Washington, DC 20585