Go, Free Market, Go! Appalachian Power Floats New Fee For Small Solar Users ($3.77/Kw/Month)
BLACKSBURG — Appalachian Power Co.’s plans to add a fee to the bills of some solar panel-equipped households drew criticism Monday in the town that just finished a first-in-Virginia solar power drive. “We think it’s going to open the floodgates and affect every customer” with solar, said Ryan Haac of Baseline Solar Solutions, one of the chief players in the recent Solarize Blacksburg initiative.
Today is the last day to send written comments to the State Corporation Commission, which is weighing Appalachian’s proposal to assess “standby charges” against some customers who generate energy with sun or wind or other means but are still connected to the wider electricity grid. State regulators plan a public hearing on the proposal on Sept. 16 in Richmond and at some point will issue a decision on the new fee.
Appalachian’s proposed fee would apply only to residential alternative energy systems with generation capabilities rated at between 10 and 20 kilowatts. The base amount for the new charge would be $3.77 per kilowatt per month, with adjustments depending on how much energy actually was generated and used by the customer, Appalachian spokesman John Shepelwich said Monday in a phone interview.
The gathering in Blacksburg, called by the Appalachian Voices advocacy group, drew about 35 people to hear ways to oppose the new fee. Haac and others noted that the General Assembly several years ago passed legislation allowing standby charges, but required utilities to justify the need for them. He argued that Appalachian hasn’t met that requirement, because it is presenting state regulators with only the costs — and not the benefits — of having some homes hooked to both private generation systems and to the grid.
EDIT
http://www.roanoke.com/news/utility-s-proposed-fee-targets-users-of-solar-panels/article_16597740-c251-5c3a-99e9-135dc19ae42c.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
>> Appalachian’s proposed fee would apply only to residential alternative energy systems
>> with generation capabilities rated at between 10 and 20 kilowatts.
20kW isn't for domestic use, it is in place to make money by selling it back to the grid.
>> The base amount for the new charge would be $3.77 per kilowatt per month,
>> with adjustments depending on how much energy actually was generated and
>> used by the customer
To be honest, anyone with a 20kW system doesn't have much of an argument about
contributing less than $75 towards the infrastructure that is enabling them to make
a profit on every sunny day.
The big fear is that without very careful wording, allowing the tip of the wedge in now
will mean they can tweak both the "base amount" and the "adjustments" in the future
to the detriment of all solar owners, not just the mini-farm types.
