Cal Power Companies Cry Foul

[Darwin333]

I highly doubt they pay you more for your power than you pay for theirs, highly doubt it. You seem to be one of those who have a gross misunderstanding of what goes into electricity cost.

When you use electricity, the majority of the cost is in distribution. They do not pay you for this.

For each kw of electricity you use, you pay x+y+z

x: Generation Cost
y: Distribution and Transmission Cost
z: Regulatory fees, and other cost

For each kw you generate they only give you x, not y and z.

and y+z are > x

Perhaps you should reread the conversation that Fern and I had because I never once insinuated they would pay more than what you pay them. Matter of fact I went digging for actual information and posted it along with the link.

OTOH, you are absolutely wrong about the rest. Its called net metering laws and in every state whose law I have read they credit you 1:1 for each kw/h that you put back into the grid.

If you use 100 KW/h
You make 50 KW/h
You are billed for 50 KW/h
You are NOT billed for the transportation costs nor taxes/other fees for the 50 KW/h that you likely got from the grid but was offset by your power generation.

I would be happy to, again, post the relevant laws if you wish. Hell, I can post the site that you can view every single law concerning net metering and renewable energy incentives in the entire US so you can see exactly how wrong you are.

The only time you become a "dealer" of electricity is when over the course of a year (in most states) you generate more electricity than you use which makes you a seller of electricity instead of a consumer.

For the record, I own a company in the solar industry.

 

[DCal430]

Perhaps you should reread the conversation that Fern and I had because I never once insinuated they would pay more than what you pay them. Matter of fact I went digging for actual information and posted it along with the link.

OTOH, you are absolutely wrong about the rest. Its called net metering laws and in every state whose law I have read they credit you 1:1 for each kw/h that you put back into the grid.

If you use 100 KW/h
You make 50 KW/h
You are billed for 50 KW/h
You are NOT billed for the transportation costs nor taxes/other fees for the 50 KW/h that you likely got from the grid but was offset by your power generation.

I would be happy to, again, post the relevant laws if you wish. Hell, I can post the site that you can view every single law concerning net metering and renewable energy incentives in the entire US so you can see exactly how wrong you are.

The only time you become a "dealer" of electricity is when over the course of a year (in most states) you generate more electricity than you use which makes you a seller of electricity instead of a consumer.

For the record, I own a company in the solar industry.

You are absolutely wrong how net metering works. I can show you multiple websites from companies them self showing how wrong you are. I can also show you relevant laws, that show you that you are wrong how net metering works.

My mistake, it is monthly netting. However it isn't annual netting like you think here.

So if you use

100 kw/h this month and generate 50 kw/h this month you pay for 50 kw/h.

But if you use 100 kw/h this month and generate 200 kw/h you are not paid back 100 kw/h for that month.

The total surplus months are added up each year, and you are given a check for the generation cost.

 

[Fern]

-snip-
Well technically it could but you would have to get a panel and meter that are only for your solar power and not connected to any other loads. Even then the power will still likely go from that panel and into your panel and still be used by you. The only difference will be that it is metered separately. If for some reason you aren't drawing enough power at the time that it is produced your neighbor will use it. I have had to design dedicated panels before but even then it was hooked into the buildings main meter.

Thanks.

Yeah, the above makes sense.

Here's a FAQ sheet from Duke (my power co.) that demonstrates they do offer an option, in addition to "net metering", where they purchase all the power your solar array produces:

Q. What are the net metering options?
A. There are two net metering/net billing options available in North Carolina and one option in South Carolina.

Rate Rider SCG, Small Customer Generator (for NC customers only) is used when generation is installed on the customer side of the meter and the customer wants to sell any excess energy back to the grid.

Rate Rider NM, Net Metering (available in NC and SC) is used when generation is installed on the customer side of the meter and the customer wants to offset their monthly usage with production from their generating system. Energy delivered to the grid is netted against that month’s energy purchases from the grid, and any monthly excess is carried over to the next month.

Q. What if I want to sell all of the energy that is produced to the grid instead of net meter?
A. Duke Energy Carolinas offers purchase power rate schedules in both North Carolina and South Carolina to buy all of the energy that is produced and delivered to the grid from a renewable energy generation system.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...cn4xYkFzebaFRgxpKsWCijg&bvm=bv.50165853,d.aWc

Fern

 

[Fern]

From a quick look it appears the higher rate I would have received for electricity generated would have come from a program called "NC GreenPower". Looks like they pay you a premium of $0.08 (looks like this has recently been adjusted down to $0.06)

• The premium currently being paid for small solar PV is $0.08/kWh and for small wind is $0.09/kWh.
• NC GreenPower changed the premium for new small solar PV (5.0 kW DC rated or less capacity) agreements to $0.08 per kWh, effective September 10, 2012.
• Expected output will be part of the solar PV agreements and can be calculated by using the National Renewable Energy Lab’s PV Watts program located online here.
• You will be asked to fill in a Federal W-9 form when signing the agreement. Payments will be made to the name on the W-9.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...AAmd8WoBV9byPc-PpTHYABw&bvm=bv.50165853,d.aWc

Remember, this was some years ago and I didn't retain all the info. I suspect the programs I see on various sites are current and therefore different, in at least some ways.

Fern