Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
in California they are too busy to notice. They are way behind on grid maintenance.
Electric Companies slowly taking back control
- Thread starter Tony Scott
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Noneyabussiness
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honestly, im off grid ( been for many years) so makes little difference to me personally, however still doesn't make it right... the point i was trying to make is the they have been profiting off the system for decades, yet they STILL use current energy usage / supposed costs to justify there ridicules profits for a essential service... yet are unwilling to upgrade the system / repair the system to suit the needs of the population.. ( also encourage more adoption of " green " energy) its a "we will let you as long as we keep making tons of money"..
Noneyabussiness
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as i do agree with you about the " softening " of the general population, please keep in mind that here in north Queensland it regularly gets over 40°c and high humidity ( 80% +) ( just put into prospective we broke records 1 year for getting into single digits temp wise during winter, its ALWAYS hot here), now a hundred years ago you would go for a swim in a hopefully croc free creek, then go sit under a shady tree... until it cools sorta... but if you are 70+ and living in a retirement home and can't do the above ( most cases) you NEED some way to cool yourself, or you die , but when TV / radio is telling you to turn off your air con cause the system is overloaded... again, you do... and why every summer so many reports of people ether dying or ending up in hospital with serious heat stroke etc.. happens more often than they like to tell us.. but hey, as long as the share holders are happy..
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
I don't see that happening for residential customers. Commercial customers already pay a demand charge. I have been charging EVs at home for ten years and I used to get a very favorable rate for charging off peak. Now, half my charging is during the day to be able to use my solar.
You just strengthen support for Calis new proposal, PV doesn’t help peak load. Every house who doesn’t pay for an energy portion of their bill (use their fictitious net bank) are the worse offenders for helping keep the lights on from 18:00 until 10:00 the next day.
While I agree a new solution is needed in net metering laws, the drastic change to calis plan maybe to severe for a single change but maybe phased in over years.
Same for my air conditioner. I get $100+ back each year and my usage has only been interrupted once in 15 years. I tend to use the air at night when the curtailment has ended.
If everyone comes home and starts charging from 17:00 until 22:00 yeah that added demand is going to impact peak load dramatically. Luckily it’s very easy to adjust charging times.
Going to take a while for people to understand TOU rates and to avoid the 4pm to 9pm premium pricing.
Tony Scott
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Good Article by Consumer Reports ledger companies in California pushing for grid charge based on how many kilowatts of energy they produce; it would cost $40 to $50 for most homes. Between this and adding fees just having a meter is the way any payments to customers will make grid tie worthless
ca.finance.yahoo.com
California proposes reducing incentives for rooftop solar
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators proposed major changes to the state’s booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies...
Once they get hit with a $10 peak demand charge each day they charge, they’ll learn fast. IMO it’ll be demand charge or TOU that will adjust users actions.
Granted slower charging <20A over the night won’t factor into anything. It’ll be those +20kw chargers that will impact things.
Granted slower charging <20A over the night won’t factor into anything. It’ll be those +20kw chargers that will impact things.
I don't like the fixed fees one bit. Far prefer a lower rate of compensation for exported power.Good Article by Consumer Reports ledger companies in California pushing for grid charge based on how many kilowatts of energy they produce; it would cost $40 to $50 for most homes. Between this and adding fees just having a meter is the way any payments to customers will make grid tie worthless
California proposes reducing incentives for rooftop solar
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators proposed major changes to the state’s booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies...
Even zero compensation is better than a fixed fee. Then we just stop exporting.
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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When I export power, I don't hurt them none.
It is only when, and if, I ask for that power back from the grid that I present a load, a draw on their generation capacity and voltage drop across their wires.
A demand charge (fee based on peak draw during a period of time) or other elevated charge for consumption peakier and more intermittent than non-PV customers could be appropriate.
I don't like a fee on production capacity (which appears to be $0.05/kWh). That may relate more to the power I don't buy from them (departing customer) than my usage of their equipment.
As an aside, micro hydro customers are allowed to net meter same as PV. One rule is their system can't introduce variation in flow rate of stream (as if PG&E should care about that; fish and game might. If anything, I'd be helping PG&E if I saved up water to deliver power when demand is greatest.)
Because hydro produces 24/7, 4x or 5x the kWh/day of a similar peak production PV plant, CPUC's $8/kW/month charge only works out to $0.01/kWh for hydro, vs. $0.05/kWh for PV.
Unfortunately the stream on my mountain property is seasonal, so instead of exporting part of the day as with PV, I'd be exporting part of the year.
But it could be good for heating. Maybe feeding same inverter I might install for PV net metering (north facing slope, so poor PV potential, though.)
I don't think FIT would exist outside of it just being a green inducement. The fact it is still around is because it is a lot harder to take something away from people than to give and is why threads like this will keep appearing.
I can see a problem if retailers up here in Qld adjust their rates to offset Vic FIT payments.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Ergon Energy is wholly owned by the State of Queensland. The prices charged are some of the most heavily regulated in the country and set by legislation. The lack of competition in the retail space is unfortunate but at the same time understandable given the massive amount of terrain covered and many small networks which are not linked to the NEM. Corporate governance and reports can be found here:
Publications - Energy Queensland
Read the latest Annual Report and past reports for Energy Queensland.
If performance is an issue, then contact your local member.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Outside of Victoria there is no requirement for any retailer in the NEM to pay a FIT, and indeed you can get retail plans with zero FIT now.
The primary advantage of such zero/low FIT plans is they have lower import tariffs, precisely because they are not offering FITs.
The electricity retail sector in SE QLD, NSW, VIC and SA is pretty competitive and they are the ones who set the FITs on offer. It's no longer about inducement (that was what the old state govt premium FITs were about which) but are just a reflection that daytime power still has some value. That value is waning as more renewables enter the grid but it still has value.
The value is lowest in SA as the grid there has by far the highest penetration of solar (and is now experiencing some days where rooftop solar alone is supplying 100% of demand) but in VIC/NSW/QLD there is still a lot of coal power supplying daytime demand which can be offset with cheaper (but not free) solar PV. The lowering of FIT will continue, then as each coal power station retires over the coming decade FITs will see small bumps back up in value.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
There is zero link between FITs offered in each state. FITs are a state by state tariff.
Noneyabussiness
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yeah... they like to report how well they are doing ... but in the real world its very different...but hey, thats just my PERSONAL experience...Ergon Energy is wholly owned by the State of Queensland. The prices charged are some of the most heavily regulated in the country and set by legislation. The lack of competition in the retail space is unfortunate but at the same time understandable given the massive amount of terrain covered and many small networks which are not linked to the NEM. Corporate governance and reports can be found here:
Publications - Energy Queensland
Read the latest Annual Report and past reports for Energy Queensland.www.energyq.com.au
If performance is an issue, then contact your local member.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Your personal anecdotal experience is no doubt poor and I've also no doubt there are other problems - it's common in regional/rural Australia as it's a difficult challenge given the terrain our networks have to cover for the population. But their global performance may also be pretty OK. Frustratingly, both can be correct.
I agree the current arrangements are far from perfect, but complaining on a forum does little. That said, venting is OK. Understanding how it works and working on ways to constructively engage for positive change, and at the least work out how to do the best for yourself and for your local community is next.
Tony Scott
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Good Article by Consumer Reports ledger companies in California pushing for grid solar grid
ca.finance.yahoo.com
www.salon.com
California proposes reducing incentives for rooftop solar
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators proposed major changes to the state’s booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies...
This is one reason why you should care, they can and will come for you
Florida woman living off the grid forced to connect to city utilities
A judge ruled that it's illegal to disconnect from the city's water system
www.salon.com
Tony Scott
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I disagree, given one’s experience let’s other know of the problem, Then activism can began. Governments have failed to protect the people which is how you end up with monopolies, as for the terrain power plans could have been built instead of running lines. In the long run running lines is more profitable, since they will use this a reason to raise rates.
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