FEB 04

Another ambitious solar plan may be biting the dust. A while back we wrote about Duke Energy's plan to rent rooftops across North Carolina for a statewide solar project. The 10 MW project was going to cost $50 million and the utility company was going to pay for it by increasing its rates. But the plan may have to be scrapped now that the state utility commission has limited the amount Duke can recoup from its customers.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission found that Duke could save money by getting solar power through third party providers instead of owning their own solar PV systems. Because of this, the commission decided it would unreasonable for the utility to burden its customers with the entire cost of the project.

Duke has realized that without the immediate return of cost through rate hikes for solar, they won't be able to go ahead with a 825-MW coal plant in the works. Since coal makes up 70 percent of the utility's energy portfolio, it's apparently more concerned with the loss of its bread and butter than a solar energy project.

If Duke chooses to abandon this project, they will need to figure out some way to offer renewable energy to its customers soon. North Carolina is requiring that renewables make up 12.5 percent of every utilities' energy by 2021, with incremental standards starting next year.

via Earth2Tech

Comments (4)

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written by Paul, February 05, 2009

It always amazes me that so many Americans claim that the US has a Free enterprise culture etc.
Especially those on the right.

But when in reality it is far more socialist and state regulated than many other countries.

Here in the UK people can sign up for energy tariffs that support renewables. Surely Duke could set up a separate energy tariff that would support the project?

The other point is that if customers don't like the increase in cost of energy, they can find another provider?
Or is that also state regulated?

We don't have a choice about whether we use solar or not. If you are going to have state regulation then it should support renewables.

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empowering individual energy - reverse m
written by jvr, February 05, 2009

Solar panels are made out of Silicium.
This means this sectors expansion depends on the availability of this resource.
The lifecycle of solar panels are also limited and a used or broken solar panel is highly toxic and can hardly be recycled.

Taken into account that silicium is growing scarser and scarser, it remains a good investment for an individual consumer.

Energy companies however realize that an individual can start producing more power then they actually consume themselves.
Since the technology that allows electricity to be efficiently stored, it flows back to the grid.
In this instance the consumer isn't only self providing, he is taking a % of the market.

This is what Duke Energy is trying to prevent at all cost.

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All Cost Not Taken Into Account
written by Kevin, February 05, 2009

The one cost that Duke never has to face is the one their pollution causes everyone else. Governments have allowed big business to pollute at the expense of us all since the beginning of the industrial revolution. If they were forced not to pollute the air, suddenly coal would be far more expensive than solar. Maybe the government should focus on protecting private property (air included) and get out of the business of telling people what kind of energy they should use.

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Duke Energy going wind?
written by Anthony, February 06, 2009

Duke Energy is building 300MW of wind near Las Vegas, NV. No idea why they're doing it all the way across the country. But it is going forward (its in the BLM's public comment stage).

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