Tag Archives: Lower Rates for Customers

30 Megawatt solar plant opens near Austin

While Georgia Power

continues to block solar deployment in Georgia,
Austin Energy forges ahead in Texas with a utility-scale solar plant.

Here’s their PR,

Austin Energy Activates 30 MW Solar Farm,

AUSTIN, Texas , Jan. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Austin Energy
along with Austin City Mayor Lee Leffingwell , and Village of


Webberville Mayor Hector Gonzales today announced the activation of
a 30 megawatt (MW) solar power plant located within the Village of
Webberville, Texas . The activation of the power plant marks the
first utility-scale solar deployment for Austin Energy and helps
bring the utility one step closer to achieving a 35% renewable
energy mix by 2020. It is the largest active solar project of any
public power utility in the country, the largest active project in
Texas and among the largest of all operating solar projects in
America. The project was activated on December 20, 2011


The key was a PPA:

The utility-scale solar project was made possible through a 25-year
solar power purchase agreement in which Austin Energy will purchase
the energy at a fixed rate along with the renewable energy credits.

In Georgia, PPAs can be made with municipal governments,
universities, companies, or even individuals,

if SB 401 passes.

An opportunity for EMCs:

Continue reading →

Georgia Power peddling old disinformation about solar power

On the same day as SB 401
revived as SB 459 gets a hearing in a better committee,


Georgia Power trots out the same old tired disinformation it’s been peddling
for years.
As if we didn’t already know that almost all solar installations in Georgia
are installed by certified solar installers.
Or that pretty much every inverter these days comes with built-in
automatic cutoff if the grid goes down to which installers add
air-gap cutoff knife switches plus breakers.
And as if Georgia Power didn’t know

it and EMCs could charge a percentage on electricity arbitraged
across their networks,
which gapower could use to finance any needed grid improvements, while
retaining a hefty profit for doing not much of anything else.
Meanwhile, those of us who chose to participate in solar electricity arbitrage
would get lower rates for customers.
We do know all that,
but maybe your state senator doesn’t, so maybe you should call your
senator today and tell them you want to be able to buy and sell solar
power without having to get it from the utility monopoly.

Greg Roberts, Vice President of Pricing and Planning for Georgia Power
in Atlanta, wrote for the Savannah Morning News today,

The solar sleight of hand.
I’ll only quote part of his concluding paragraph.

Georgia Power is involved in many efforts to expand the use solar energy

Usually dragged along behind reluctantly,

Continue reading →

SB 401 revived in SB 459: lets you generate and sell solar power

SB 401 got tabled in the Natural Resources Committee.
46 other states already let people generate solar power and sell it to
a third party.

Yet in only four states — Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and
Kentucky Mdash; are third party power purchase agreements disallowed,
according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

But Georgia Power convinced that committee that it would raise
rates for everybody else.
Which is pretty rich coming from the same gapower that is

already charging customers Construction Work in Progress
for its nuke boondoggle.
So SB 401 sponsor Sen. Buddy Carter found another way.

Mary Landers wrote for the Savannah Morning News Friday,

Solar bill jolted back to life:

To revive his bill, Carter tacked it onto to one already sent to the


Regulated Industries Committee — SB 459, which would allow
consumers to opt-out of smart meters like the ones Georgia Power is
currently installing in Savannah. The committee held a hearing on
the bill Thursday, ultimately tabling it, and saying they wanted
more information about how power purchase agreements work in other
states.

Carter was elated.

“It’s out there now and people are aware of it,” he
said. It’s getting media attention. I feel good about it.”

Help him feel even better about it.
Contact the committee chair and tell him we want solar cogeneration:

Senator William Ligon

404-656-0045

william.ligon@senate.ga.gov

Oh, regarding the meter opt-out in the main body of the bill,
why let gapower charge people for that?
You can mention to Sen. Ligon that people should be able to opt out for free.

-jsq

PS: Owed to Bob Ingram.

Georgia Power opposes SB 401 and Lower Rates for Customers

Is anyone surprised that Georgia Power has come out in opposition
to Georgia SB 401, which will let you generate solar power and sell
it to whomever you like?
If you do want to do that, you can call your state senator today.

Errin Haines wrote for AP 18 Feb 2012,

Georgia Power balks at Senate solar power proposal,

“The power company ought to be doing this, but they don’t want to
buy it from anybody that produces it,” said state Sen. Buddy Carter,
the bill’s main sponsor.

The state’s main electricity provider, Georgia Power, is opposing
the legislation, pointing to the state’s Electric Service Act.


Created nearly four decades ago, the law established assigned
territories for the power company, along with 42 electric membership
cooperatives and 52 cities with municipal systems, all competing for
customers.

Spokeswoman Christy Ihrig said in a statement that the proposed bill
would illegally infringe on the company’s territory and that the
introduction of a new supplier could drive up rates for customers
because utilities would be required to hike costs. She added the
company is supportive of solar power and is working to provide solar
as an option to customers.

Ah, the old territoriality law!
“Competing” through assigned territories.
Does that seem right to you?

You know, it’s not illegal if the legislature changes the law….

If you want lower rates for customers, call your state senator today.
Around here, that would be

Senator Tim Golden,
tim.golden@senate.ga.gov



Capitol Office:




121-A State Capitol

Atlanta, GA 30334

Phone: (404) 656-7580

Fax: (404) 463-4226


District Office:


110 Beacon Hill

Valdosta, GA 31602

Phone: (229) 293-0202 (O)

(229) 241-1284 (H)

(229) 241-7732 (F)

-jsq

Help pass GA Senate Bill 401 to facilitate distributed power cogeneration

SB 401 intends to modernize Georgia law to make distributed power generation
easier.
You

can help.

Drs Sidney Smith and Pat Godbey
not only

have started Tabby Power, which sells solar power directly to customers.
They also have an outfit called

Lower Rates for Customers,
which is about generating solar power in one place and selling it in another.
There are various legal impediments to doing that.

Charlie Harper wrote for the Courier-Herald and Peach Pundit 9 February 2012,

A Little Sunshine On A Battle To Expand Renewable Energy,

Essentially, customers with solar panels meter not only power coming


into their house from the existing grid, but also the amount of
power returned to the grid. The generating company — Georgia Power
in most of the state — is required to buy surplus power back based
on their state granted regulated monopoly status. Currently,
projects are limited in size to 10 Kw for residential customers and
100 Kw for business customers. SB 401 removes these caps.

More intricate details of the bill provide for private ownership of


these systems, as opposed to current law which requires the owner of
the property to also own the attached grids. This will allow for
manufacturers of solar grids or interested third parties to enter
into financing or lease agreements which pay for the systems long
term out of cost savings for the customer. By allowing for these
arrangements, many customers can access these systems with no money
up front, as opposed to the high initial capital costs which would
take years to recover.

Here are the

details and text of SB 401.
It has six cosponsors:

  1. Carter, Buddy 1st
  2. Chance, Ronnie 16th
  3. Carter, Jason 42nd
  4. Williams, Tommie 19th
  5. Rogers, Chip 21st
  6. Stoner, Doug 6th

We’ve seen Doug Stoner before,

at last June’s Southern Solar Summit,
talking about renewable energy.
It looks like he and others are actually trying to do something about it.

You can help, by

signing this petition.

-jsq

Solar surging in Savannah

Near Savannah a couple of doctors are pioneering ways
for everyone to profit from solar now.


Yesterday, the Driftaway Cafe started serving up with solar.

WJCL and WTGS wrote yesterday,

Solar Power Surges in Savannah

A ground breaking project is underway in the coastal empire that
harnesses the power of the sun and hopes to pave the way for the
future of clean energy. One main part of this project is for
everyone to be able to supply their own power.

Clean, sustainable energy has been a hot topic for some time now,
especially, energy that doesn’t send our money overseas.

“We need to develop every available source of American
energy,” says President Obama.

The problem is that until now alternate sources have been out of
reach or too expensive for most of us.

“It’s very important we learn how to harness our own power and
how we structure that today is important for future
generations,” says Dr. Sidney Smith, co-owner of Lower rates
for Customers.

“Lower Rates for Customers” is hoping to do just that.
The plan is to make solar power the way of the future and affordable
for everyone. They have an all encompassing plan that can have
anyone generating their own electricity within 45 days, even if you
don’t have the land to put up solar panels.

“We provide you with the place, the hook up, the technology
and Georgia power will send you a check to supplement your power
bill,” says Dr. Pat Godbey, co-owner of Tabby Power.

Business like the Driftaway Cafe jumped on the chance to get
involved.

“Their financial model for the future just struck a nerve with
me and I wanted to be a part of it,” says Driftaway owner,
Robyn Quattlebaum.

Cheaper, cleaner, and accessible: that’s good business sense!

-jsq