Solar in the Southeast
(More legible version of graphic below)
Frequent commenter Craig McManus, a solar installer in the Southeastern U.S. near the point that Alabama, Georgia and Florida meet, writes in:
The benefits of not penalizing solar energy:
• Electricity made locally therefore less need for the utility to upgrade power lines
• Local long term jobs and savings that can help the local middle class
• Solar and battery backup power for emergencies
• Cleaner air and water
• 2018 solar jobs by state: AL 614, GA 3,696, FL 10,358.
If a home owner puts solar panels on their home, Alabama Power charges them $5/kw per month, but is now asking for an increase.
Alabama comes in 48th out of 50 states in residential solar capacity, ahead of only North and South Dakota. New Mexico had a fee but got rid of it. And while there are fees in Arizona, Kansas and Texas, Alabama Power’s backup fee seems to be in a class of its own. It currently has the highest backup fee based on the size of the residential solar system of any regulated utility in the U.S. On top of that, Alabama solar customers are paying for backup power in their regular bills, and paying an extra backup power fee. Alabama’s solar customers might be paying the utility twice.
The electric co-ops are discouraging solar energy, unless they own the solar farm, and some are increasing the minimum monthly electric bill if a home owner installs their own solar panels.
Craig,
Craig McManus, has a vested interest in wanting to sell more solar installations, which is fair enough and in many instances domestic solar can be useful.
However, whether solar makes economic sense depends on the individual consumer, the utility,the nature of usage and quality of the solar installation.
Then there’s the elephant in the room Craig McManus never mentions!
What does Craig propose to do with all those obsolete, highly toxic solar panels? Who does Craig imagine should be responsible for his installations when it comes time to dispose of the panels?
Who should be responsible? Not ol’ Craig, he’ll be long gone. Probably not the householder, he’ll have moved, not the Solar company or manufacturer, so who…..,
Yeah, that’s right, the long suffering taxpayer!