Attendees raise a glass to celebrate the Southern Environmental Law Center's 15th anniversary in Alabama on Nov. 13, 2025. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
A Georgia nonprofit has become more active in environmental battles around the state, from battles over access to air and water to challenging permissive utility regulations that contribute to high energy costs.
Since opening an office in Birmingham 15 years ago, the Southern Environmental Law Center has partnered with other nonprofits and organizations in legal battles in the public and private sectors.
D.J. Gerken, the president and executive director of SELC, said in an interview that climate change was one motivator for their work.
“We are at the beginning of a climate crisis, and the South has a big hand in causing it,” he said. “Right now, we are paying more for electricity because we are subsidizing fossil fuels. We think that is terrible for families. We know it is terrible for the environment, so we have got a lot of attention on that problem.”
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SELC lends legal and advocacy expertise to other organizations and nonprofits and assists them with advancing their mission to protect the environment.
“The reality is that we have so many partner groups in this state with different interests, different cases that they want us to work on, that we do the work from partner groups that come to us that really need to be done,” said Barry Brock, director of the Alabama Office for the Southern Environmental Law Center.
SELC partnered with renewable energy advocacy organizations Energy Alabama and the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution to challenge decisions made by the state’s utility regulator, the Alabama Public Service Commission, that typically rules in favor of Alabama Power.
Recently, SELC challenged a request made by Alabama Power to purchase a natural gas power generating station in Billingsley in Autauga County, which would have led to increased utility rates to pay for the acquisition. Alabama Power said the plant would help it meet increased power demand from data centers. The utility said in a filing with the PSC that the Billingsley power plant is the most cost-effective plan for addressing increased energy use.
SELC sought to stop the purchase, arguing the company did not consider other sources, such as renewable energy, to address the demand, and also overestimated the amount of electricity that data centers will consume. Alabama Power said in a filing last week it wants to delay the implementation of the rate increase.
SELC is also challenging the process that the PSC uses to decide the rate that Alabama Power can charge its customers for the cost of fuel it buys to generate electricity.
“The way they have been doing that is through this secretive procedure where they don’t have a public hearing,” Brock said. “They don’t invite public input.” The rate ECR can be adjusted as often as every month when Alabama Power makes a request to the utility regulator. The Public Service Commission then issues consent orders to adjust the rate.
SELC is also taking on cases that deal with pollution, particularly for residents living in rural areas.
Stokes is overseeing a lawsuit filed to prevent a mining company from operating a limestone quarry in Belle Mina, Alabama by having the court issue a permanent injunction because of the noise and air pollution from the mine.
“(Alabama) has got some low-hanging fruit in terms of fixing environmental justice issues, fixing climate change issues,” said Sarah Stokes, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
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Author: Ralph Chapoco