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By the time you read this, I will have retired and started the next chapter of my life and career. It has been a long journey. I am proud of all we accomplished in my 26 years as President & CEO of PowerSouth.

I am thankful for so many things. I had a strong and loving mother who encouraged me and pushed me in the right direction. I think of her every day. There were wonderful mentors who taught me how to succeed. At PowerSouth, I learned the importance of serving our members and putting their interests first. I am blessed to have had excellent staff members and employees who worked hard to serve our members and make PowerSouth successful.

We accomplished so much. We made our service to our distribution members more reliable. We upgraded and added dozens of new substations to make the members’ jobs easier. We expanded and improved our transmission system to provide better, more reliable service to our members.

We built new generation units. We built two new natural gas peaking units at our McIntosh Plant to add needed generation capacity. Faced with much more restrictive environmental regulations, we closed the Lowman coal units in 2020 and replaced them with a 700 megawatt (MW) combined-cycle natural gas plant in 2023. We started building a simple-cycle natural gas 450 MW unit that is scheduled to begin commercial operation in late 2029.

We moved from balancing and dispatching our own generation to joining the Southern Company Power Pool in 2021. This improves system reliability and offers better access to energy markets. We gave up independence as a standalone utility for better reliability and more affordable service in the Southern Company Pool.

We also invested in non-fossil fuel generation resources. We purchased 80 MW of solar power. Operations at the solar facility have been inconsistent, but the price is favorable, and we only pay for the energy it produces. We also purchased 125 MW of nuclear power from Vogtle Units 3 and 4. The nuclear units have performed well, but the price is higher than we anticipated.

Earlier this year Black Warrior Electric Membership Electric Cooperative and Tombigbee Electric Cooperative joined PowerSouth’s membership. We have not added any new members in over fifty years. We are excited to have them as members to achieve greater economies of scale and spread the costs of baseload generation across a broader base.

The members are more unified than ever. They understand the benefits of scale and the advantages of larger and more efficient generation units. They also understand the benefits of working together for the membership’s common goals.

The future will be different and exciting. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change our lives, the economy, and how we work. Data centers supporting AI will continue to change our industry. Large loads used to be 100 MW. Data centers now routinely seek as many as 2,000 MW of electric capacity to run the AI agents. The industry’s potential growth is staggering. However, I believe PowerSouth is well-prepared to be successful in a changing industry and world. I hate that I will not be a part of it.

I have written hundreds of articles on these pages. I have addressed many issues, including climate change, renewable energy, and more restrictive environmental regulations. Many readers thank me for the articles. Other readers object to my articles. Some send hateful letters and emails. Most use their names, but others send anonymous, profane letters criticizing my positions. Some demand that Alabama Living stop publishing my articles. I am surprised at the number of otherwise intelligent people who adopt “Cancel Culture” tactics to limit the discussion of issues they disagree with, even if it strips me of my freedom of speech.

My purpose in writing the articles is not to incense readers. It is to continue reminding them that renewable power is neither as reliable nor as affordable as fossil-fuel gas generation, particularly natural gas. It is inevitable that renewables and restrictive environmental regulations will increase the cost of electricity for all electric consumers. We would be better off if we used the most efficient and affordable sources of electricity and saved money to deal with the changes of the future, regardless of causation. The climate has always changed and will continue to.   

Some readers express strong feelings that approach hate. A few have issued threats. I am sorry that some people become so emotional over issues that they cannot influence or control.

There are some things I would do differently. I would have built two natural gas generators in 2023 if I had known that generation costs would rise by 300%. I would have passed on the Vogtle nuclear contract if I had known it would have been so expensive. I would have improved the depth of our safety information and practices to better protect our people, and that would have helped avoid an electrical contact incident in 2021.

Michael and Heath, I failed you. I am so sorry. I would do anything if I could make it better. I pray for you every morning.

It has been a long journey. I appreciate all of you making it with me. It would not have been the same without all of you. I love all of you – even my haters.

I hope you have a good life.