Selling Power Back to the Electric Company, a Question

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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Sun. Apr. 21, 2013 7:44 pm

For those of you with grid tied solar panel and/or windmill based electricity generating systems, how much does your power company pay you for your excess KWH's that go out onto the grid (as opposed to what they are charging you to purchase a KWH from the grid)?

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Apr. 21, 2013 7:47 pm

I had this conversation with a neighbor recently...he gets paid a wholesale power rate for his excess solar...3.5 cents per KWH as I recall. It is a far cry from the 12 cents that we pay after all the fee's an delivery charges.

 
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Post by dcrane » Sun. Apr. 21, 2013 8:27 pm

Fred's got a big Ole' windmill laying in a field getting rusty that that im saving up for (I got his 6 back of bud already, now I need to figure out how to give him more then the scrappers would surly give him for it) ....poor guy has no wind :lol: ... maybe he knows the answer to this because his rig was a direct tie in? The main problem with a windmill of any proportion im finding are the stupid set back requirements in my town :mad: If I fail at a varience I think I would need like 10 mini windmills that are only 40' tall :lol:


 
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Post by Freddy » Sun. Apr. 21, 2013 8:48 pm

lsayre wrote: how much does your power company pay you for your excess KWH's
Pay me? Not a dang cent! But.... it varies not only from state to state, but from power company to power company.

The Feds somehow require that the power companies accept extra power produced by individuals, but, they don't say how you must be treated. I like the way my power company does it. They trade me 100% even. If I push 217KWH's out to the grid, anytime within one year I can take those 217 back at no charge. It IS possible for me to lose power..... if I allow credits to reach 13 months old, they evaporate. That's only happened once, and never will again! I keep better track now & burn it as heat. PLus now with the electric car they'll easily get used.

Some states buy it at wholesale & sell it back at retail...charging you delivery along the way. Other states pay you, and pay EXTRA because "it's green". For any one person....call your power company & ask. They'll tell you.

I think most limit individuals to 10,000 watts of production....about that you become commercial & all bets are off.

 
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Post by McGiever » Sun. Apr. 21, 2013 11:06 pm

The "best" description I have heard for the "rate" a homeowner gets for their excess generated power delivered to the grid is...The "avoided cost" required to generate that sum of power by that utility... that cost as if the utility had generated the power themselves...that is even less than wholesale...but by law, they have to buy it.

Some/most utilities are in pursuit of "Green Energy" as a percentage of their total generating capacity...would one of these pay a better rate?
Now, if you can choose your supplier...could you choose your buyer? Probably not, because then you would have to pay for some distribution costs and that wouldn't be good. :roll:

 
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Post by LsFarm » Sun. Apr. 21, 2013 11:38 pm

In my state, the 'net-metering' setup is pretty good,
Each month the meter is read: both used from the grid, and the current pushed back into the grid.
the pushed current is subtracted from the used in KW's. so the entire cost including delivery costs, taxes etc are subtracted each month.
If I have a really good month and generate more than I use, this goes toward the next month, and if by chance I have a balance in
'the bank' at the end of the year, the power company will pay me the balance at about 4 cents over retail.
for me retail is 6.9cents and I get paid at 11cents. I have to pay about another 7 cents in surcharges , delivery charges etc,
on current I use from the grid.

My power company just offered a new program where they write a check to help pay for the system up front.
I also will get paid 3 cents for every KW produced, even if I use it in my home and don't push it to the grid..
I had to install a second meter and route my solar array's power lines through the 'generation meter' before it gets to my service panel.
This was a bit of a pain, but it will pay for itself .

I know freddy's state is a 'use it or lose it' state, other states have different plans..
Check with your power company and see what is offered.

Greg L
Screen shot 2013-04-21 at 6.23.12 PM.png

This is a VERY good day, for solar production.

.PNG | 369.3KB | Screen shot 2013-04-21 at 6.23.12 PM.png

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