Duke Energy's residential customers in North Carolina will pay 20 cents more a month to pay for the utility's foray into solar power.
The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the increase Tuesday to let Duke recoup its 2010 costs under the state's renewable-energy law. The law makes utilities produce increasing amounts of electricity from renewable sources and energy efficiency, starting last year with solar power.
The initial solar target was tiny -- 0.02 percent of Duke's total retail sales for the previous year, rising ten-fold by 2018. The law lets utilities recover their costs of complying with the law, and that's what Tuesday's order did. Those costs will add 47 cents a month to residential bills, beginning Sept. 1 (up from the current 27 cents). Commercial customers will pay $2.36 a month, industries $26.07.
The way Duke went about satisfying the solar mandate didn't sit well with some critics, who have said Duke's dependence on one huge solar farm and utility-owned rooftop arrays did little to help local solar companies grow.
Duke installed the rooftop systems at 25 businesses and homes, and bought power and renewable-energy certificates, or RECs, from SunEdison's big solar farm in Davidson County. It also bought RECs, which each represent 1 megawatt-hour of clean energy, from in-state and out-of-state solar generators. Duke accumulated so much solar power, in fact, that it will satisfy the full solar mandate law to 2018.
The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, which represents renewable-energy companies, objected. As costs fall, it argued, utilities could likely meet the state mandate more cheaply by buying solar power from others than by generating it themselves, as Duke has done in part.
The commission disagreed, noting that it had already approved the Duke-owned rooftop program. It's not appropriate, the order added, for the commission to address future projects now.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Commission signs off on Duke's green-energy costs
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17 comments:
Thats great 10x fold by 2018... Just when you tought Democrats couldn't get any dumber. But then again, the Duke CEO is a Obama bootlicker.
What crap.
ITA...what CRAP!!!!
CUT your CEO and upper mgmt salaries, perks and benes before you pass on anymore elusive charges, fees and increases to your customers. It's really too bad we can't buy electricity from other sources here like they can in other parts of the country because DE probably wouldn't have any customers. DE definitely needs some competition right here in their hometown.
I have a better idea. Wait until solar panels are much more efficient, spend the money you were going to spend on the panels and land and expand a nuclear power plant with a new Westinghouse reactor. The new Westinghouse reactors produce only 10 cubic feet of waste per year if the US government allows companies to reprocess the spent fuel. Nuclear is safe. Chernobyl was poor Soviet engineering and Fukashima required a MAJOR earthquake AND a tsunami to mess it up. New reactors won't have such problems.
I know the truth about nuclear. I would love it if one was built near me.
Nevada Energy was forced to release how it much was paying for solar power.
It is 4 to 6 times the rate of fossil fuels.
Get ready for the Solar power scam.
Have your wallets ready.
The Liberals of the world are going to destroy the way of life that we currently have. They want to use more food for fuel while half of Africa starves, they don't know how the trouble in the middle east this past year is going to kill our use of oil and those prices will go up. not only because of that but with the no or very little oil drilling in the gulf we are already in a mess thanks to our king in charge by fiat. What else can be said that has not been said about how he said our electric rates would increase and that he was going to kill the coal industry. Someone, somewhere is behind him because he was a nobody that can be controlled and is being controlled. He has bypass congress now to the point that they are of no value to the American People and they are too stupid or to afraid of something to do anything about his "Executive Orders" to stop him from killing our economy and way of life.
Solar energy costs about 25 cents a kWh if you remove all the subsidies. Duke charges about 9 cents. But most Duke electricity comes from coal which has a host of negative effects (i.e. costs). This year, Harvard Medical School released a study showing the health costs associated with burning coal amounted to 18 cents per kWh for all US coal produced electricity. That's 27 cents per kWh if you add them to the current price.
Solar is already cheaper than coal ---if all costs are included!
7:19 PM People are hollering for this "free" energy. The NC Legislature listened to them. Luckily, the NC commission has restrained what this could have become. However, most people are too naive to understand what it takes to do it and that is presently costs 4 to 6 times as conventional methods.
For the record also, check how much people in other parts of the US pay for power. You will find DE is 30% to 40% lower. Be sure you use areas that have had the growth in electricity usage as we have had in our area.
How's all that solar working for y'all? McGuire Nuclear plant unit 1 will produce more power in about 52 minutes than the solar units that cove about 6-5 football fields in Lexington/Davidson Co will in a year, enough for about 400 average size houses. Thanks a lot.
SOME ONE SAID"""It's really too bad we can't buy electricity from other sources here like they can in other parts of the country because DE probably wouldn't have any customers""".Well if all those people want some one else for their power company, go for it. If your power goes out guess who Duke will try to restore 1st. there own. good luck
"How's all that solar working for y'all? McGuire Nuclear plant unit 1 will produce more power in about 52 minutes than the solar units that cove about 6-5 football fields in Lexington/Davidson Co will in a year, enough for about 400 average size houses. Thanks a lot."
Completely inaccurate. Laughably inaccurate actually.
The 21.5 megawatt solar array in Davidson County will produce approximately 27.5 gigawatt hours of electricity in a year.
The entire McGuire Nuclear facility produced only 17,514 gigawatt hours in 2005.
Nuclear is very expensive energy and the costs associated with nuclear do not even include storage and security costs.
The equivalent of 17 nuclear power plants worth of solar were installed around the world last year. Nuclear plants take decades to build and need billions in taxpayer funded loans and insurance to be completed.
10:38 You are off by a factor of 500 and you call that close?
duke ceo raw-jaws is a TOTAL c0ck-sucking mother-fvcking a$$hole, & complete chicken-$hit ba$tard
Renewable power production cost is twice or three times the cost of power generated by coal or nuclear. So, how is more renewables going to improve manufacturing and jobs in NC?
The way I see it, ever increasing regulations, renewable subsidies and higher energy costs make NC and America less competitive to manufacture products here. If the Elected Officials were serious about providing truly skilled jobs and increasing manufacturing, then they would advocate more new high efficiency, Clean Coal Plants like Cliffside! Later, bring on more new Nuclear plants.
Remember over 90% of our electric power is generated by coal, nuclear and natural gas. Well less than 3% by solar or wind.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/freedom-watch/index.html#/v/1139573253001/out-of-solar-wind/?playlist_id=158146
ENOUGH SAID!
I want to know where I can lear to install solar panels in north carolina, or anywhere around here, but still in the state. If anyone knows any information about it then please tell me. Thanks in advance..
You may be qualified for a new solar energy program.
Determine if you're qualified now!
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