![]() ![]() The Florida bill now goes to the Governor’s desk.įollowing the anti-rooftop solar playbook “Utilities are now banking on the state government to strip those rights away and pad their monopoly hold on electricity ,” Giese said. Will Giese, southeast regional director of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) sees these bills as a threat to the 100,000+ Florida homeowners who have installed rooftop solar and to the 11,000 jobs created in the state. with net metering programs have a negligible cost increase attributed to solar. Studies completed by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that 40 of the 43 states and Washington D.C. These net-metering changes are pitched as a protection for non-solar customers from raised rates through cross-subsidizing solar customers. Just this week Florida’s House passed a bill that calls for the rate paid by utilities to rooftop solar owners for electricity sent back to the grid to be phased down to a fraction of its original rate, and it opens the door for unlimited fixed fees to be levied on solar customers. In California, the Net Metering 3.0 proposal, which was called a solar-killing measure, was put on hold after it came under fire from industry leaders, environmentalists, and working Californians. The letter states, “We believe the proposed changes could harm a growing industry on behalf of a single corporation, cause the loss of thousands of well-paying jobs in the North Carolina solar industry, threaten your climate goals and hurt all electricity customers by limiting the delivery of low-cost power to the grid.”Ĭhanges in net metering rules in California and Florida have forced the industry to react quickly. ,” Hollister said.Īlso today, 15 of North Carolina’s rooftop solar companies sent an open letter to Governor Cooper calling for his help to protect rooftop solar from Duke’s attempt to weaken the industry. They’re hedging their bet without fully complying to the letter of the law, which states that ‘The rates shall be nondiscriminatory and established only after an investigation of the costs and benefits of customer-sited generation.’ No such investigation has been conducted. ![]() Rooftop solar is such a small fraction of electrical sales in this state that it poses no threat to Duke Energy currently. “When utilities look through such a narrow lens of cost shifting they’re applying a litmus test that doesn’t apply to any other ratepayer. If it is approved, it will only be for homes heated with electricity and is not available to current solar owners.įor Dave Hollister, president of Sundance Power, a leading solar installer in North Carolina, this is ultimately a battle over who owns the energy. Additionally, a rebate for solar customers who also install a smart thermostat may not be approved. At each of these distribution substations, transformers reduce voltage to 12.47 kV.Today three of the longest-established rooftop solar companies in North Carolina will jointly intervene in the North Carolina Utility Commission (NCUC) net metering docket in order to challenge Duke Energy’s proposal to change the rules.ĭuke’s plan would institute a minimum monthly bill of up to $28 for homes adding solar and would lower the price paid for their excess power by up to two-thirds from the current retail rate. Our electric system currently has 19 distribution substation sites. Purchased power is supplied through 230-kV transmission lines to three point-of-delivery substations. The Power Agency purchases power from Duke Energy Progress who maintains the transmission facilities needed to get the power supply to Greenville and 31 other municipally-owned utilities in eastern NC, which in turn distribute electricity to their customers. Greenville Utilities purchases electric power from the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (commonly just called "the Power Agency"). ![]() We provide electric service to Greenville and approximately 75% of Pitt County ( service area map). Greenville Utilities' Electric Department is dedicated to safely providing reliable service, supporting the economic growth of the Greenville region and maintaining rates at the lowest practical level. Ours is the second largest municipal electric system in North Carolina, both in number of customers served and quantity of electricity purchased and distributed. ![]()
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