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mike[_22_]

On 5/15/2017 7:54 AM, wrote:

Industry officials say they support their customers right to generate electricity on their own property, but they say rooftop solars new popularity is creating a serious cost imbalance. While homeowners with solar panels usually see dramatic reductions in their electric bills, they still rely on the grid for electricity at night and on cloudy days. The utility collects less revenue, even though the infrastructure costs €” from expensive power plants to transmission lines and maintenance crews €” remain the same.

Ultimately, someone pays those costs, said David K. Owens, an executive vice president for Edison Electric Institute, the trade association that represents the nations investor-owned utilities

that has some truth to it but also leaves out some truth.
electricity cost more to make during peak times.
The power company wants you to use less power during peak times so they don't
have to build a new peaker plant.
Can't argue with that, BUT!!!
If you're supplementing the grid with rooftop solar, what happens when
the sun don't shine?
Would you be happy with rolling blackouts during bad weather when
the grid can't supply enough peak power?

So there is two sides to this coin.
Solar unfairly uses the grid for storage without paying.
Solar helps the power company smooth out the peak load.

I think the only fair way to sort this out is to charge the true cost for each aspect of usage.

One cost for simply connecting to the grid to cover line maintenance.
You pay this amount even if your net kWh = 0

Another fee for peak daytime kWh in or out.

Another lower fee for off peak kWh in or out.

We already have that in Oregon. When I looked into time of use billing,
the extra fees were higher than what I could save on electricity.
The more frugal you are with resources, the less you benefit.
We can also sign up for renewal energy. For a higher fee, all our
electricity
comes from renewable sources.
People actually fall for that scam. They move a number from one part
of the spreadsheet to another part and claim that saves the planet.
People think that actually makes a difference.
Would be more efficient and more fair to raise everybody's rate to
invest in renewables. Why do we insist on penalizing those who
want to help? Guess it's all about the sound bite.

The power company of course want to present only the the side of the
coin that gets them more money.

The power company is no more evil than anybody else.
They're making the best of what happens when you let regulators
and tree huggers into the mix.