California Signs Solar-Power Feed-In Tariff Into Law

... Some solar companies said the bill's pricing scheme would create a feed-in tariff of about 15 to 17 cents a kilowatt-hour, which they said wouldn't be high enough to spur significant investment. But others said the program would create opportunities for lower-cost projects for which there isn't currently a market.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: California Signs Solar-Power Feed-In Tariff Into Law

    Some more information on the various bills signed by the "governator" regarding solar power (SFGATE):
    One bill will require California utilities to buy surplus solar power from homeowners who generate more than they use. Another bill will expand the state's "feed-in tariff," a system that sets a price for renewable power that utilities buy from businesses with midsize solar arrays.

    Another piece of legislation will raise the electricity rates of customers who use relatively little power, ending a rate freeze put in place during the energy crisis of 2000-01. The same bill also will allow a limited number of large electricity customers - such as businesses or schools - to leave the utilities and buy power from other companies.
    ...
    One of them, AB920, requires the utilities to compensate a homeowner whose solar array or small wind generator produces more electricity during the year than the customer uses. Until now, if a homeowner's panels produced more energy than the home used in an entire year, the utilities got the excess for free.
    This part makes me feel all "warm and fuzzy" :roll::
    The same bill also allows a limited return to a policy called direct access, which let power customers buy from companies other than the utilities. Direct access was part of California's disastrous experiment with electricity deregulation in the 1990s, but the state suspended it in the wake of the electricity crisis. Under SB695, Florio said, the state will now allow direct access to grow again, but only to the level it reached before the crisis, as measured by the total amount of electricity sold under direct access contracts.
    OMG. :grr:cry:

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset