[Norm51]

Our municipal-owned electric utilities in Texas (Austin & San Antonio as examples) encourage rooftop solar as an aid to meeting their portfolio mix on sources of energy while in investor-owned utilities seem to see us as roadside targets.

I'll follow this one to see if it's another miss or a hit this time around.

Please see: Case could set solar precedent

 

[ZamboniMan]

Sounds like someone doesn't like competition... Shame on them!

 

[indyflick]

Eventually these new whole home batteries (eg Tesla Powerwall, Enphase battery, etc) will be cheap enough for home owners to have an viable option to go off-grid. That will be the competitive threat that will stop such behavior from the utilities. But it will be many years into the future before the battery option will be cost effective for most home owners.

 

[Barry]

It all depends on if they view the solar panel users as lost revenue or as a source of cheap energy that is available at a time of day when wholesale rates are generally at their highest.

The traditional rate structures were developed with the assumption that no customers would be producers. It makes sense that those rates are not working very well right now.

[edited spelling]

 

[hellsop]

It all depends on if they view the solar panel users as lost revenue or as a source of cheap energy that is available at a time of day when wholesale rates are generally at their highest.

The traditional rate structures were developed with the assumption that no customers would be producers. It makes sense that those rates are not working very will right now.

They're working fine from a capacity standpoint -- they're partly designed to offset peak loads so compensatory actions (like rolling brownouts) don't have to happen as often.

The other part of the design is to maximize revenue. And from that standpoint, ANY conservation efforts are to be avoided.

Never forget that any utility will pivot from one point to the other on the application of any kind of pressure.

 

[Barry]

Yes, I personally do not have a problem with the current rate structures, but they can be seen as skewed when it comes to reverse metering, depending on your outlook. Reverse metering was not taken into consideration when the traditional rate structures were put into place. One part of the problem is that customers do not pay separate fees for access to the transmission infrastructure (the grid) and for the power they consume. If they did, I think there would be less grumbling about reverse metering. Even people with zero net consumption would still pay something for the grid, which they are using.

If you really want to do it right, you would have a meter that tracks how much power goes into the grid and at what time, so you can apply the wholesale rate for those exact times.

 

[SirSpammenot]

If you really want to do it right, you would have a meter that...

In Texas we have almost completely switched over to smart-meters! All the copper/infra is owned by one of two non-profits (oncor or SWPS) and they maintain the meter systems. Regardless of which electricity retailer (60+, http://www.powertochoose.org) you pay to, customers can hit https://www.smartmetertexas.com and see usage data down to 15 minute intervals. This is the same usage data your bill is generated from.

Now all we need is state leadership to acknowledge that "the people" occasionally want more than what's been on offer.

 

[Norm51]

Utility lobbyists turn up the heat on rooftop solar

Utility lobbyists turn up the heat on rooftop solar

Note the term, "Lobbyists."