The president of the Alabama Public Service Commission has come out swinging against a proposal to build new dams and reservoirs on north Alabama’s Chandler Mountain.

Alabama PSC President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh issued a press release Tuesday morning calling the proposal an “energy fantasy,” and vowing to stop the project.

“This pump storage technology that Alabama Power is exploring is just another unworkable solution being endorsed by out-of-state liberals trying to hijack our energy policy,” Cavanaugh said in the news release.

“Alabama needs a full portfolio of energy production options, but I will never let the climate socialists import their energy fantasies from California.”

The project was conceived and proposed by Alabama Power Company, which is in the process of applying for a federal license to build seven dams to create two reservoirs around Chandler Mountain in St. Clair and Etowah counties northeast of Birmingham.

Alabama Power has said that the project could help accommodate renewable solar energy by providing power at night when solar panels don’t produce. The company has said that while it has applied for the license for the project, it has not made a final decision on whether to move forward with the project if approved.

“It is important to remember that no decisions have been made; we are in the preliminary stages of exploring the opportunity at Chandler Mountain,” Alabama Power said in an emailed statement in July.

Local environmental groups like Coosa Riverkeeper and the Alabama Rivers Alliance have organized opposition to the project, citing the potential local environmental harms due to construction and impacts to residents living near the towns of Steele and Gallant.

The project has generated a firestorm of local opposition, largely local residents who face the prospect of losing their land through eminent domain, or of seeing their serene mountain landscapes turned into a large power-generating facility.

READ MORE: Chandler Mountain Project: What we know so far about the plan that could displace a town

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‘This will destroy our town’ Residents fight Alabama Power on dams, reservoirs

One reservoir would be located on top of the mountain, and one in the valley below, and Alabama Power would pump water from the lower lake to the upper one during off-peak hours. Then, when demand was high, the company would release the water to the lower lake to generate electricity on hot summer afternoons and cold winter mornings. However, it would take more energy to pump the water uphill than would be generated when the water flowed back down.

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“This is clearly an inefficient method for producing the type of energy required to power a 21st century economy,” Cavanaugh said. “That is why I am opposing the project and I will not grant permission for it to proceed.

“Alabama Power should seek other options to meet Alabama’s energy needs.”

Alabama Power has filed preliminary application documents with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct the project. FERC is currently accepting public comments on the proposal after extending the original public comment deadline to Aug. 26 due to high public interest.

Alabama Power did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cavanaugh’s statements.

If FERC were to approve the project, it’s unclear what role the PSC would have in regulating the project. The PSC is in hearings Tuesday morning and Cavanaugh’s office did not immediately respond to questions asking about the PSC’s role in the process.

In the news release, Cavanaugh said the project would take too long to come online and would be too expensive.

“Alabama families and Alabama industries and businesses demand innovative solutions to fuel our future,” Cavanaugh said. “By the time this cost-prohibitive project could come online, our evolving technologies will make it antiquated.

“I will continue to fight every aspect of the Green New Deal policy, and I will advocate for energy policy which reflects Alabama’s values and our vast potential,” Cavanaugh said.