this is not about their new weed law
which went into effect on january 1
business is booming there it seems
so is the solar industry
the cost of solar panels have decreased a lot so that
more and more people in colorado are putting up
solar panels on their roofs to generate their own
electricity
during the day
the way this works is if you dont store the electricity
in batteries which are expensive is that as the
electricity is generated it goes eg at the country n here
it goes to our house first
if its not needed it then goes to the electrical lines
connected to my meter then goes out to i guess
whoever needs it next
maybe my neighbors
at the end of the month the electric company
takes the total electricity i used
subtracts the total amount of excess electricity i produced
(that doesnt include what i used as it was being produced)
to come up with a total amount that im billed for
eg
i produced 500 kw this month
i only used 200 kw of it
the other 300 kw went up into the grid
i used 1000 kw total
so i get billed for 700 kw
if i produced more than i used then i get a credit
but
have to pay $20+ to just be hooked up to the system
thats called net metering
if they give me credit its at wholesale price
if i have to buy its at retail price
thats one of the rubs between solar producers like me
and the electric companies
plus they want to charge another fee for use of their lines etc
(this house in the above picture is completely off the grid
and stores its electricity in large batteries
he doesnt have to worry about any of this)
in arizona and they are trying to do this in california
and colorado they want to charge $50 but the electric commission
said no you can only charge $5
so if i lived in arizona i would pay $25+ before i use any electricity
california is trying to make it $100
im sure texas is not far behind
its whoever has the most political influence
ie cash
the other problem thats happening is that there are more and
more homeowners producing electricity such that there is a
surplus during the day that goes away when the sun goes down
the electric companies havent figured out how to store or use
this excess electricity
they are looking at massive battery banks that are expensive
so it seems its going to be a battle between the large electric
companies and the solar industry and us homeowners
we know who probably has the most influence
right
the organicgreen doctor
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