Which states buy back excess electricity?

autoxsteve
autoxsteve Solar Expert Posts: 114 ✭✭✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
I've been sharing with others my excitement in going solar and some have asked if the state buys back the excess electricity I may generate.

Where can I find which states (or utilities) buy back electricity from residential customers?

From the little I've searched and know, Texas is a mess (I believe PUC will rule on a law that utilities have ignored since 2002 that they are supposed to buy it back) and I believe New Mexico does buy it back.

I also know California does not.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,685 admin
    #2
    Re: Which states buy back excess electricity?

    Steve,

    Try this Google Search on the dsireusa.org site... The results are not pretty, but it seems to give a number of hits.

    Unfortunately, it appears that in many places it is the local utility that sets the buyback policies--not a state wide PUC.

    In California, you can probably sell your power back--but you would need to apply and get setup as a RE Generator. Probably not the easiest or cheapest thing to do here unless you are A) big, and B) able to use the specialized rate programs that overpay for RE generated power.

    For PG&E (Northern California), you can start browsing around here. I noticed that the "Form" for applying as a <10 kW generator is 176 pages...

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