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Gulf Power Seeks Approval For Voluntary Solar Program With Yearly Fee
November 23, 2015
Gulf Power is seeking approval from state regulators for a pilot program that would involve customers voluntarily paying extra fees for solar-generated electricity rather than installing expensive rooftop solar panels.
The proposal, filed last week with the Florida Public Service Commission, would lead to customers paying $89 or $99 annual “subscription” fees to cover the costs of solar facilities. Customers would then receive credits of $2 to $2.50 per month on their electricity bills that would partially offset the fees. The credits would reflect that the use of solar energy would reduce the amount of electricity that Gulf would have to generate or buy elsewhere, according to the filing.
The local utility said it would need 2,880 subscriptions to cover the costs of the program. Once approved, the 1-megawatt community solar photovoltaic facility will be built near Milton, Florida.
“This is a customer opportunity to engage in solar participation,” the filing said. “The proposed program is strictly voluntary and is designed for Gulf Power customers who are either unable or do not desire to install solar generation systems on their residences or businesses. For many customers, ownership and operation of a solar generation system is either not feasible or is not desirable.”
The annual fee would be $99 but would be lowered to $89 for customers who agree to participate for five years.
“This is a limited program and we expect it to fill up fast,” said Rick DelaHaya, Gulf Power spokesperson. “We’re excited to bring more renewables to Northwest Florida and give customers a new option to participate in solar without having to install a costly system on their roof.”
If approved, this is the fourth solar project Gulf Power has initiated in Northwest Florida. In April, the Florida Public Service Commission approved the construction of three large-scale solar energy farms. Partnering with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, the solar farms will be constructed at Eglin Air Force Base, NAS Whiting Field, and NAS Saufley Field. When complete, the facilities could produce enough energy to power approximately 18,000 homes for one year.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Comments
19 Responses to “Gulf Power Seeks Approval For Voluntary Solar Program With Yearly Fee”
Rather then spending all that money on a solar panel field and investing in more billing methods, why doesn’t Gulf Power offer residential solar panel financing to the public? That way it would take some of the load off the grid, make a profit off of the financing, and appear to be involved in “Green Energy”…
hmmm..yet, they can’t do it for free.
What a load of horse apples. GP can tie up money investing in land, but it can’t invest in a renewable fuel source? This plan smells really bad.
Why is everyone complaining? Almost 3,000 customers contribute to construction, get a small reduction in rates and support solar energy. Progress ensues in providing solar power. I’d like to put solar panels on my house and on my car, but I can’t afford that. This supports the new wave of power thinking and could, down the road, mean considerably less reliance on coal and natural gas. Get enough participation and electricity becomes virtually free. No one else want to support green energy?
This is confusing. If Gulf Power got the 2,880 subscriptions, and each did the 5 year plan and recouped the maximum $2.50 per month, Gulf Power stands to clear ~$170,000 per year, or about $850,000 in five years. The cost of a 1 MW system is about $9,000,000 (according to the inter-web). A system like that is expected to have about a 20 year service life. I don’t expect I’ll be signing up for this program. I’m a fan of ‘greener’ energy, but this doesn’t make sense to me.
(make that $0.117 per kw-hour… but you get the idea).
Why complicate something more? I mean, electric power is a commodity. A kilowatt-hour is sold for $2.42. Yes, the price can already fluctuate with peak times, but adding another complication of whether the power comes from solar or coal is more billing problems. Everything is complicated these days – from the IRS on down.
Just so you can say I use solar energy.
The power would go into the grid and nobody can tell you who used it.
Although it would seem it would cost less to generate than by conventional methods.
Not all bad not all that good. You would think they would be building this type facility on their own. Seem to remember a story talking about one at the old Saufley Field area.
I agree with Bob R. If the solar power was truly “free”, then no one would need to do anything to get it. I can understand a charge to maintain and upgrade the solar equipment used to capture the power. However, I do not agree that Gulf Power should continue to charge for regular electricity if solar power is installed and the customer is paying the yearly fee for it. If enough customers did this, then Gulf Power would have a large enough base to continue to make money. Perhaps treat it like a cell phone? If a customer uses more than X number of kilowatts per month of regular electricity, then a charge could be applied to the use of the traditional “regular” electricity. Just a thought.
No Thank You….
pay 100 dollars a year to save 25 dollars a year??????????
>>>Are they insane? They want you to PAY FOR SOLAR ENERGY THAT’S ALREADY FREE????
Yes it’s free…but you have to harness it. If you want the “feel good” of solar energy, install solar panels on your house for 10 grand, or pay Gulf Power $100 a year and let them absorb the cost to capture the “free” energy.
Water is free too. But you have to pay the water company to deliver it, or pay to install a well yourself.
unbelievable!!!! that they have the nerve to ask us to pay for that right from the inception of the program. Let’s see we pay them to build it we pay our contractors to install it on our roof AND they save money because they don’t have to “generate as much power” —so far sounds like a win win for them and a lose lose for us.
Are they insane? They want you to PAY FOR SOLAR ENERGY THAT’S ALREADY FREE????
This is about the most idiotic statement Gulf Power has ever made.
You can’t charge people for solar energy!?!?!?!?!? It’s FREE!!!!
Morons.
Let me see if I have this straight. $99 subscription minus ($2/mth x 12 mths) = $75 per year more to pay while they charge the same per kilowatt so I can what feel good about participating in the solar program. How about after the 10 to 12 years it takes to recoup the capital start up costs they then give me free kilowatts for the remaining years of the solar panels life.
This would be called a Legal Scam.
So Gulf Power wants us to pay for solar panels so they can tap into free solar energy but still we pay for the power? I would think that our power bill should go away down once they have changed over to solar and recouped costs. I’m sure that’s not gonna happen. Everyone, do your homework.
This is about as nutty as carbon credits. It’s just paying extra to feel like you’re doing something. The only thing “green” about this is the green going into their pockets.
So how do they protect the solar panels when a hurricane/storm comes through? Large panels must be secured or they will turn into large sails in the wind. Flying debris will break the panels. Costly repairs? Just curious.