[Southern Company, 30 April 2018]

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, has nearly finalized their newest project, Smart Neighborhood at Reynolds Landing- located in Hoover, Alabama- which will introduce “for the first time in the Southeast high-performance homes, energy efficient systems and appliances, connected devices and a microgrid on a community-wide scale.” More specifically, the project will be composed of solar panels, battery storage, and for backup power: a natural gas generating unit. Though all of the 62 homes in the neighborhood have already been sold, only half are currently being occupied. Alabama Power will also allow their Smart Neighborhood to act as a resource for other homebuilders as well as trade and industry groups for two years (as part of the research and data collection of the project). John Hudson, senior VP of Marketing Business Development for Alabama Power, said of the project, ““With Alabama Power’s Smart Neighborhood, the future of residential energy has arrived. Smart Neighborhood brings together technologies and data in new ways that help families take control of their energy use and live better today.”