MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Alabama state regulators have cleared the way for Alabama Power to purchase an 895-megawatt gas-fired power plant, further tying Alabama’s largest electric utility to climate-polluting natural gas for decades to come.

The three-member Alabama Public Service Commission unanimously approved a request from the utility to purchase the Lindsay Hill Generating Station near Billingsley.

The $622 million purchase will increase the bills of Alabama Power customers by about $3.32 per month, beginning in 2027, according to the company.

Two environmental groups, Energy Alabama and the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP), intervened in the docket, arguing that the company hadn’t sufficiently proved that it needed the extra capacity or that it had considered alternat

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