12 Jan Distributed Solar – Not Regressive Rates

In light of the proposed rate case structure, Solar Austin will be bringing something else to the table at Thursday's AE rate structure hearing at City Hall: Their solution to demand for green energy – distributed rooftop solar. 

Distributed rooftop solar is a long time coming in my personal opinion, as it takes away most of the troubles of transfer inefficiencies that you get when you have a large centralized solar plant. While most people think solar is too expensive as an option, Austin has some of the best rebates in the nation. This among many other baffling facts about why we should be doing a 300 MW decentralized rooftop solar benchmark study, which would highlight the benefits of such plants both economically and environmentally.

While the regressive rate structure that is being proposed actually rewards energy use which makes sense for AE financially, it makes no sense to the customers purchasing electricity who want to cut their electricity use to save money and live a bit greener.

The main handout for Solar Austin's points for tonights hearing are as follows: 

It's time for 300!

Solar is ready to bring huge economic benefits to Austin. Costs are falling and now is the time for Austin to commit to a 300MW Rooftop Power Plant: 

• It will create thousands of local jobs 
• Voluntary investors (residents & businesses) will cover much of the cost – and those investors will reap the benefits when we buy our energy from local rooftops 
• It will maintain Austin’s reputation for clean energy, attracting business investment in the local economy
• It was a unanimous recommendation of the Austin generation planning taskforce 

To get to 300MW of local distributed solar, we must: 

• Create programs that allow all customers to participate and commit the funds necessary to meet the goal 
• Fix the broken commercial solar program 
• Pay a fair value for solar energy, including the health, environmental, and economic benefits
• Treat solar like other resources – use a 5-year funding plan to ensure stability and planning

 

Check out Solar Austin here: http://www.solaraustin.org/