| Better Than Net Metering |
| Written by Philip Proefrock | ||
| Friday, 13 October 2006 | ||
According to a Washington Post article, the province of Ontario is requiring utility companies to pay premium rates for energy generated from solar, wind, hydro orbio-electric production.
Solar generated electricity will receive 42 cents per kilowatt hour. Other forms of generation will receive from 11 to 14.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Thisis a premium, since electric rates average 5.8 cents per kilowatt hour in the province.
While there are places in the United States that require net metering (paying the same retail rate for surplus electricity generated that the customer payswhen they draw power from the grid), this is the first instance in North America where a premium is being paid for surplus electricity.
As a result, there has been a great deal of activity in setting up new powersystems, particularly new photovoltaic systems, across the province. With this premium, payback on a solar PV system is reduced from 50 years to 15 years.
via: Greenbuilding list
Comments
(3)
Could be damaging.
written by rob , October 14, 2006
Not Permanent
written by Matt , October 14, 2006
I suspect that "early adopters" will be the ones to install these alternative systems. Once the initial flurry of activity falls off, the addition of new systems will probably fall dramatically. As a result, the electricity will be more expensive, but probably not ruinously so.
Of course, I have no data to support my assertions; I'm just making an educated guess.
Canadian Illustrator
written by Heather , October 16, 2006
Initially...very proud being from Ontario right about now! Even if it is shortsighted, I think it's a great start. Like General Electric canibalizing their own industry by emphasizing the swirl bulbs...someone was going to do it, why not them! I reckon it's a positive thing that incentives such as paying premiums for energy are actually getting APPROVED. The human race has never had a hard time coming up with ways to make money... I'm sure if this premium becomes a problem the energy companies have some clever people on it to find a way to survive
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But this seems rather shortsighted to me, if enough people start to feed power back into the network and that power is paid for by the utility company at way over market prices. Surely with dropping revenue, either the utility companies will have to raise their prices, or cut back on maintenance to the power grid infrastructure, neither of which is desirable.