In Alabama's Blount County, off the highway, down a dirt road and up a hill is writer T.K. Thorne's house.
在阿拉巴马州的布朗特县，离开高速公路，沿着一条土路走下去，爬上一座小山，就是作家T.K.索恩的家。
She points to her roof and a shining row of black solar panels.
她指了指她的屋顶和一排闪闪发光的黑色太阳能电池板。
It's a 4-kilowatt system — pretty typical for residential solar — and Thorne got it almost four years ago hoping to help the environment and reduce her electricity bill.
这是一个4千瓦的系统——非常典型的家用太阳能系统——索恩大约四年前买了这个系统，希望能帮助改善环境，减少电费。
It was a big investment — $8,400 even after a federal tax break.
这是一笔巨大的投资——即使在联邦税收减免之后，也有8400美元。
Thorne estimated how long it would take to pay off the solar system, installed the panels, and began waiting for the savings to begin.
索恩估计了还清太阳能系统的贷款需要多长时间，装上了太阳能电池板，然后开始等待钱节省下来。
But then she found out about a monthly $5-per-kilowatt solar fee from the state's largest utility, Alabama Power.
但后来她发现，该州最大的公用事业公司阿拉巴马电力公司每月会收取每千瓦5美元的太阳能费用。
"That's $20 a month," Thorne says. While that doesn't sound like a lot of money, she says, it will double the time it will take her to pay off the system.
索恩说:“每月就是20美元。”她说，虽然这听起来不算是一大笔钱，但这将使她还清贷款的时间增加一倍。
Because of the fee, 65-year-old Thorne says it'll take almost two decades to pay back her panels.
65岁的索恩说，由于这笔费用，她需要将近20年的时间来还清她的电池板。
"Yes," she says and laughs, "I may not be alive."
“是的，”她笑着说，“我可能都已经走了。”
Green energy groups say this solar fee is a key reason why, according to Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association, Alabama comes in 48th out of 50 states in residential solar capacity.
据Wood Mackenzie和太阳能产业协会称，绿色能源集团表示，这一太阳能收费是亚拉巴马州在50个州中住宅太阳能发电能力排名第48位的一个关键原因。
Alabama Power spokesman Michael Sznajderman says there's a good reason for the fee:
阿拉巴马州电力公司发言人迈克尔·斯纳德曼说，收取这笔费用有一个很好的理由:
If a customer's rooftop solar panels don't provide enough energy, Alabama Power's still on the hook for backup electricity.
那就是如果客户的屋顶太阳能板不能提供足够的能源，这时阿拉巴马州的电力公司仍然需要备用电力。
"There is a cost to have backup power service available to customers who demand it," he says.
他表示:“为有需求的客户提供备用电力服务是有成本的。”
Other regulated utilities across the U.S. have proposed residential solar fees.
美国其他受监管的公用事业公司也提出了住宅太阳能收费。
And New Mexico had one but got rid of it; Wisconsin is currently considering one.
新墨西哥州也有一个，但被淘汰了;威斯康辛州目前正在考虑这样做。
And while there are fees in Arizona, Kansas and Texas, Alabama Power's backup fee seems to be in a class of its own.
虽然亚利桑那州、堪萨斯州和德克萨斯州都有收费项目，但阿拉巴马州电力公司的备用费用似乎是独一无二的。
It currently has the highest backup fee based on the size of the residential solar system of any regulated utility in the U.S.
目前，在美国所有受监管的公用事业公司中，它的备份费用按住宅太阳能系统的规模计算是最高的。
That's according to data from the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, which produces the 50 States of Solar report, as well as the National Regulatory Research Institute.
这是根据北卡罗来纳州清洁能源技术中心和美国国家监管研究所的数据得出的。
"How is that possibly the best they could do from a cost perspective when regulated utilities in other states do much better?" asks Gautam Gowrisankaran, a public service professor of economics at the University of Arizona.
亚利桑那大学公共服务经济学教授高塔姆.高利桑卡兰问道:“从成本的角度看，其他州受监管的公用事业公司都做得更好，他们怎么可能是已经做到了最好呢?”
He says Alabama Power is overcharging its solar customers in a couple of ways.
他说，阿拉巴马州电力公司在几个方面对其太阳能客户收费过高。
First, solar customers in Alabama get paid a lot less for making solar energy than customers in other states.
首先，与其他州相比，阿拉巴马州的太阳能用户在制造太阳能方面的收费要低得多。
On top of that, Alabama solar customers are paying for backup power in their regular bills, and paying an extra backup power fee.
最重要的是，阿拉巴马州的太阳能用户在他们的日常账单中支付备用电源，并支付额外的备用电源费用。
Gowrisankaran says he thinks this means Alabama's solar customers might be paying the utility twice.
高利桑卡兰，他认为这意味着阿拉巴马州的太阳能用户可能要向电力公司支付两倍的费用。
"The bottom line is that ultimately they seem to be double counting — double charging essentially for the costs of backup generation," he says.
他说:“归根结底，他们似乎是在重复计算——实际上是为备份产生的成本重复收费。”
Alabama Power says there's no double-charging — it's simply covering backup costs.
阿拉巴马电力公司辩解说，他们没有二次收费，只是为了弥补备份成本。
It notes that another payment option for solar customers doesn't include the backup fee, but critics say that ends up being even more expensive.
报告指出，太阳能用户的另一种支付方式就不包括备份费，但批评人士说，这最终会更加昂贵。
The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a complaint with the state regulator, the Alabama Public Service Commission.
南方环境法中心已经向州监管机构阿拉巴马州公共服务委员会提出投诉。
The center is asking to get rid of the backup fee, saying it's unjust for solar customers like Thorne.
该中心要求取消备份费，称这对索恩这样的太阳能客户不公平。
Alabama Power wants the regulator to dismiss the complaint, and wants to increase the monthly fee from $5 to $5.42 per kilowatt.
阿拉巴马电力公司希望监管机构驳回投诉，并希望将月费从每千瓦5美元提高到5.42美元。
Keith Johnston, who leads the law center's Birmingham office, says what's going on in Alabama should concern people across America because it goes to the heart of how utilities have been charging for power for more than 100 years.
基思·约翰斯顿是伯明翰法律中心办公室的负责人，他说，阿拉巴马州发生的事情应该引起全美人民的关注，因为这关系到100多年来公用事业公司如何收费的核心问题。
"The traditional model of the utility is that ... they build large power generation systems such as coal-fired power plants or dams, and they have a captive audience that has to buy that energy," he says.
“传统的公用事业模式是……他们建造大型发电系统，比如燃煤发电厂或水坝，他们有一群忠实的用户，他们必须购买这些能源，”他表示。
Today, though, homeowners have the option to install solar panels on their rooftops and become power generators themselves.
然而，今天，房主可以选择在屋顶安装太阳能电池板，自己成为发电厂厂长。
"Solar is a real disruptor because it allows people to create their own energy, and so the utilities typically get very nervous about that," Johnston says.
约翰斯顿说:“太阳能是一个真正的传统规则破坏者，因为它允许人们创造自己的能源，所以公用事业公司通常对此感到非常紧张。”
"One way they can thwart that is to increase the cost to have one of those systems on your home."
“他们阻止这种情况发生的一种方法是，在你的家里安装这种系统会增加成本。”
Now, following the complaint, the Alabama Public Service Commission will decide if the solar fee is fair.
现在，在投诉之后，阿拉巴马州公共服务委员会将判定太阳能收费是否公平。
In the meantime, if any of Thorne's neighbors ask her if it's worth it to get solar, she tells them, no.
与此同时，如果索恩的邻居问她买太阳能是否值得，她会说不值得。
Not in Alabama Power territory.
至少在阿拉巴马州电厂的管辖范围内不值得。
索恩家安了太阳能电池板，能自己发电了，为什么还要向阿拉巴马电力公司交费呢？
留言回复正确答案，前十名朋友可以获得红包奖励哦，赶快来试试吧！
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