Solar fees, dock workers, Insult Comic Dog: in Alabama

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Ike

Solar suit

A Montgomery judge has denied a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit over Alabama Power’s solar fees, AL.com’s Margaret Kates reports.

The plaintiffs in the case, including the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP), filed suit against the Alabama Public Service Commission in United States District Court. The Public Service Commission’s job is to regulate utilities, and the lawsuit argues that it was against the law for the PSC to allow Alabama Power to charge fees to people who use solar panels.

Alabama Power joined the suit as an intervenor defendant and, along with the PSC, asserted that the court lacked jurisdiction in the case and moved to dismiss it. The court disagreed and the case will move forward.

Alabama Power said it charges fees to customers who use non-emergency power generation sources, such as solar panels, because it still must generate backup power for those customers.

The plaintiffs call the fees discriminatory and unfair and say they discourage the use of solar energy.

Back to work on the docks

Dockworkers in Mobile – and members of the International Longshoremen’s Association along the Eastern and Gulf coasts – are back to work after a bargaining agreement was reached to delay the strike until Jan. 15, reports Howard Koplowitz of AL.com.

Work can resume so quickly because union members do not need to vote on a temporary suspension of the work stoppage.

According to the Associated Press, the parties agreed on wage increases but still have concerns about job automation.

Alabama Port Authority Director and CEO John Driscoll said, “Getting container terminals back to work is essential for all Americans, and the contract extension is significant progress toward a permanent resolution that we are very happy to see. »

Triumph against Britt

The other day we mentioned that U.S. Senator Katie Britt was in the press room on behalf of JD Vance after Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate.

Turns out Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was too.

Triumph is a sock puppet, the creation of Robert Smigel, a comedian and former writer for Saturday Night Live when it was funnier. You may have seen Triumph the Insult Comic dog on the old show Late Night with Conan O’Brian, meeting attendees at a sci-fi convention and making mean jokes about them – much to their amusement.

He was bipartisan in the spin room. An example of his metaphorical way of wielding a double-edged ax was his comment that Tim Walz is what JD Vance will look like after a four-year term alongside Donald Trump.

Sen. Britt hasn’t escaped his verbal darts either, AL.com’s Mark Heim reports. While Britt did an interview, Triumph hid nearby and said on camera: “The great Senator Katie Britt, whose State of the Union address is now considered a Halloween party classic.”

By the numbers

21.29 mph

That’s how fast former Alabama (and current Baltimore Ravens) running back Derrick Henry ran on an 87-yard touchdown run in Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills.

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