another hiccup to going solar?

[orezok]

I'm not sure the exact amount, but in VT, we have to pay a fee that goes to Efficiency VT, which in turn, gives it out as rebates etc. for people "greening" up their purchaces of electricity consuming appliances. They want us to use heat pumps, which we do, (and love them) but they get expensive in winters deep freeze temps. And we are penalized (fee paying) for using what they are pushing...

Why should I subsidize others?

If you drive on a highway, others are subsidizing you. You don’t get to cherry pick.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

taxes pay for roads, i pay taxes, so....
My point is, only the family that gets subsity for solar benefit, not all people.

I don't see how I'm cherry picking.

 

[orezok]

taxes pay for roads, i pay taxes, so....
My point is, only the family that gets subsity for solar benefit, not all people.

I don't see how I'm cherry picking.

If you are a farmer you get subsidies, if you own stock in petrochemical or pharmaceutical you get subsidies. Pick any of another thousand things and you get subsidies. I don’t have either so only those who do get subsidies. Not cherry picking of course.

 

[etpm]

taxes pay for roads, i pay taxes, so....
My point is, only the family that gets subsity for solar benefit, not all people.

I don't see how I'm cherry picking.

If you drive on public roads and use a vehicle that gets better mileage than other vehicles then you are getting subsidized by the vehicles that get worse mileage because of the road taxes included at the pump. We all pay taxes. And we all pay taxes for services that we don't use. Roads we don't drive on. Schools that our children don't attend. And so on. And you can also get a subsidy for solar, all you need to do is spend the money to buy the panels and get the tax break. Oil companies get HUGE subsidies. We pay for that. You pay way more in taxes to subsidize oil companies than you do for folks who install solar panels. Did you think of mentioning oil company subsidies?
Eric

 

[beowulf]

Power companies are just tired of being forced to pay residential customers 4x or 5x what they can buy the SAME power from their suppliers at wholesale for. Which only drives up the cost for everyone else, because you know damn good and well the power companies are just passing along that cost.

This is just the difference between wholesale and retail. No different than any other market.

This is exactly what I was told when we were negotiating for solar in 2018. I called the power company to ask why there was such a difference in what they charged us and what they would pay us for any excess production. They said they pay the solar customer at the same rate they can buy power from other power sources. It made perfect sense to me. It was not an important factor for us anyway as we did not anticipate having a great amount of excess to sell, and later, another regulation - having two meters - meant they would not buy any excess anyway.

 

[TN8Man]

Here in Tennessee we do not have net metering but even if we did I would not participate because these net metering systems are not permanent and subject to change at any time. I looked seriously at solar as a back-up system a few times over the years but the cost-benefit analysis never worked out even after lithium batteries suddenly got much cheaper. It never made sense to have solar panels without a large battery storage system and it's the large battery storage system cost and performance that was the biggest hurtle. If the grid goes down I want my solar system to provide me what I paid for. So I bought a EU7000i Honda geny and wired in a transfer switch that works great!

 

[Torvy]

If you drive on public roads and use a vehicle that gets better mileage than other vehicles then you are getting subsidized by the vehicles that get worse mileage because of the road taxes included at the pump. We all pay taxes. And we all pay taxes for services that we don't use. Roads we don't drive on. Schools that our children don't attend. And so on. And you can also get a subsidy for solar, all you need to do is spend the money to buy the panels and get the tax break. Oil companies get HUGE subsidies. We pay for that. You pay way more in taxes to subsidize oil companies than you do for folks who install solar panels. Did you think of mentioning oil company subsidies?
Eric

That is why many people want to limit spending by those who spend other people's money to things that are truly used by everyone. Even people who do not drive use public roads.

I'll be more open to further environmental requirements when 100% of other countries catch up to where we are in those terms. Not that we are furthest along, but we are well beyond some major polluters.

 

[TN8Man]

I'm not sure the exact amount, but in VT, we have to pay a fee that goes to Efficiency VT, which in turn, gives it out as rebates etc. for people "greening" up their purchaces of electricity consuming appliances. They want us to use heat pumps, which we do, (and love them) but they get expensive in winters deep freeze temps. And we are penalized (fee paying) for using what they are pushing...

Why should I subsidize others?

This is why I purchased a wood burning stove. It works great and I have plenty of free wood on my properties. I turn the heat pump off when it gets below freezing.

 

[Hay Dude]

That is why many people want to limit spending by those who spend other people's money to things that are truly used by everyone. Even people who do not drive use public roads.

I'll be more open to further environmental requirements when 100% of other countries catch up to where we are in those terms. Not that we are furthest along, but we are well beyond some major polluters.

And then we sell coal to Chia, one of the world’s worst polluters and still a “developing nation” status?

That’s like a drug pusher selling drugs to a heavy user.

This country’s “leadership” is so hypocritical.

But yeah, I know…..China’s air pollution stays within their borders.

 

[bnold]

So instead of making more than you use during the day.....and using more than you make during the night where it stays pretty balanced....You'd rather have the power company "store" your summer energy as credit for half a year till you need it more in the winter at no additional charge to you?

My coop’s net metering is decent, really not complaining, my situation works, it could be better. Wholesale power in and out at the same rate, but it won’t go below zero on a bill, if I over produce, the coop gets to enjoy that energy for free. IE not paying for the service I provide.

No energy is ‘stored’

Would I like yearly net metering instead of monthly, sure thing. Or a negative monthly when I over produce, sure thing.

Some companies have exactly that situation.

Still sitting at a 6-7 year payback (down from originally installed, due to increased tax credit and increased energy cost)