Killing off home solar in Canada & returning your customers to the "fold"

[Mr Gus]

This is what I read & lost... found again, reminds me of what american power companies getting arsey about home owners solar from a few years back, same playbook.

Utility company says charge needed as net metering customers rely on system without paying full cost.

"For those with a typical 10-kilowatt solar system, which generates around $1,800 (CAN) of electricity a year, the new charge would mean those customers would be required to pay $960 back to NSP" (Nova Scotia Power) who are owned by "EMERA"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emera

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-sco ... -1.6331442

[Stinsy]

I know in Italy you are no permitted to consume any of the power you generate. You have to sell it all to the grid and then buy the power you use.

Energy companies must hire extraordinarily pretty lobbyists!

[Moxi]

Doesn't really add up though as an argument does it.

Take two 6 bedroom houses USA / Canada big houses lol) on the same street one house is owned by an elderly couple who are conscientious and have maintained the property well with insulation and A rated appliances live in one and a young couple more, shall we say, consumerist focussed live in the other.

They both rely on the grid but the elderly couple less kWh because they are more frugal, buy the best A+++ appliances and turn the lights of as the go from room to room.

So do they have to chip in more cash for their standing charge ? I don't believe so and its the same for second home owners they don't consume much (presumably) when not at the second home so are they being chased for extra contributions because they are " relying on a system" without paying fully in to it ?

Nahhh the utility companies dog don't hunt in my opinion! It appears to pick on a specific customer type and would fail the just and fair test of a law court.

Moxi

[Mr Gus]

Doubling the estimated payback time to 18 years (est) is never a good move for motivating homeowner solar investment, look at us in 2004-2012

The taxation proposal if it were to spread will also affect those communities who run solar & diesel supply for their energy grid, in effect quashing it.
(NWT communities for example) ..the limit for nigh on 10 years has been a 20% cap of solar fed into the grid.

Heavy fossil fuels slopped around on long haul supply runs to maintain life in the many remote areas, where solar is being taken up, throws another spanner in the works.

[John_S]

It all comes back to the unit charge v standing charge debate. We all want to have the convenience and availability of the grid and want to pay as little as possible for it. Meaning that someone else has to pay more.

[nowty]

Net metering is pretty generous compared with our SEG for new installations.
Paying half price is similar to Ripple WT1 if paying normal tariff rates.

The UK VAT man might think, wait a minute, Nowty Towers is generating and using 10,000 kWh every year for free. If he bought that at 20p / kWh he would have paid us £100 in VAT.

Don't be surprised if something similar happens here sooner or later.

[Mr Gus]

"Sh!twads" (if they do)

Here's the situation for the NWT as I mentioned in the comments above, tie it in with the above rolled out because it works to reap more money for a multinational & a big pile on results.

If you've ever watched the abysmal "Ice road truckers" you know the drill & expenditure getting FF supplies to the remoter / unreliably powered sites, communities etc.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/re ... -1.6323697

[Fintray]

They could always buy some battery storage and prevent any export, ok not as good as net metering but maybe better than paying a charge to export.

[Mr Gus]

They could always buy some battery storage and prevent any export, ok not as good as net metering but maybe better than paying a charge to export.

Example..
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder- ... 37812[code][/code]

A very open friend on a reservation in Canada had a part time job in town, & had to get buses to & fro, a good % of money from it (job) went into the community pot, the thing is the community pot & govt funds were not shared out fairly, with the chiefs & elders in some case stitching up money flow, so buying batteries is made even harder, & judging by the state of many reservations low on the list of basics.

As you see from the piece above, there are some success stories out there though.