Chandler Mountain Project

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The Chandler Mountain Pumped Storage Project is a pumped-water energy storage project proposed by Alabama Power Co. for a site on the northeast prominence of Chandler Mountain just north of Steele in St Clair County, and in the area below along Little Canoe Creek extending into Etowah County.

The proposed project would involve constructing a 526-acre lined "upper reservoir" with a rockfill dam at 1,373 feet above sea level on top of the mountain. The reservoir would be fed from Lake Neely Henry by reversible pump turbines operating during periods of low energy demand. During periods of high demand, the water would flow back down to a 1,090-acre lower reservoir, held by four dams at tributaries to Big Canoe Creek at 683 feet above sea level. The turbines would then have a generation capacity of up to 1,600 megawatts, which would be fed into the utility's distribution grid by new transmission lines from the pump station.

The net effect of operating the storage project would be a loss of energy, more of which would be expended in pumping than could be regained by hydroelectric generation, but Alabama Power is promoting the project as a key piece of infrastructure for a more flexible future energy grid which accommodates more sources of renewable energy.

Alabama Power filed a preliminary permit application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in July 2021, and a more detailed notification of intent and pre-application document in April 2023. In those applications, the utility noted that Chandler Mountain site had been identified as well-suited for hydro storage in a 1985 study, which was confirmed in a 2010 analysis. If the design and permitting for the project were to proceed smoothly, construction could potentially start in 2031 and continue for 5-7 years before going into operation in the mid–late 2030s.

The precise boundaries of the land area that would need to be acquired for the project have not been defined, but most have assumed that many residents and landowners would be forced to move and sell their property. A town hall meeting at the Steele Community Center in 2023 drew dozens of people speaking against the proposal. The FERC hosted "scoping meetings" on July 10, 2023 at the Rainbow City Community Center.

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