Earlier this spring, several local news outlets reported that Fairhope and Foley, along with 12 other cities in Alabama, now have solar-powered charging stations. The charging station located outside the Fairhope Civic Center and City Hall was officially launched May 4, 2022.

According to the WPMI Channel 15 News article from that day, “The Alabama Municipal Electric Authority is taking serious steps investing over a million dollars to build a network of solar-powered stations in key Alabama cities like Fairhope where tourists can park and shop while their electric cars are juicing up.” This new 50-kilowatt (kW) solar research project and charging station is now online.

"The further south you go possibly the better the sunshine so every community we're in we will be learning," said Fred Clark with the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority.

The Electric Authority says it will take about 30 years to get a return on the investment but they also say it isn’t about profit or making money, it’s about the research. "The data we receive from these projects will only benefit our knowledge of what takes place and what energy is produced," said Clark. The profits will eventually come.

According to Fairhope Mayor, Sherry Sullivan, “We are waiting on the funds to be awarded and AMEA has offered the $50,000 match. We still plan to place those charging stations on Highway 98 when we receive the grant.” Sullivan notes that there are already charging stations in the Fairhope city parking deck, but they are not solar.

“To date, we have had over 414 sessions on five charging stations since mid-April, and just over five megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy consumed with August being our busiest month with 107 sessions,” says Jeremy Morgan, Automated Metering Infrastructure coordinator. “On a sunny day, the solar canopy produces around 20 kW of power and has produced more than 16 MWh since being commissioned in mid-April. But more importantly is the 12 tons of CO2 avoided from the 24.5 kWp system.”