Puget Sound Energy offers incentive plan
It's aimed at those generating electricity on own
Generating more electricity than you know what to do with? Puget Sound Energy might like to buy some of it from you.
There are some catches to the incentive program the Bellevue-based utility announced Tuesday: The electricity has to come from wind, solar or anaerobic digester systems and from customers already connected to Puget's system.
Those consumers, businesses, government organizations, school districts and non-profits that qualify could receive 15 to 54 cents for every kilowatt-hour of power they generate and sell to Puget, with an annual cap of $2,000 per customer.
What price those customers receive depends on whether the electricity was generated with made-in-Washington equipment. The highest level of credit, for example, would go to a customer using solar modules and an inverter, both made in the state.
In fact, that was the idea behind legislation enacted in 2005 that set up the incentive program for utilities in the state: To encourage the manufacturing of renewable-energy equipment, particularly solar, in Washington.
Like other utilities, Puget already offers a net-metering program, in which customers can receive a credit on their bills for power they generate and feed to the utility's distribution system (as an offset to their total consumption of electricity from the company). Puget spokesman Roger Thompson said this program is in addition to the net-metering system; Puget currently has about 110 customers on net metering.
Puget will offer its Renewable Energy Advantage Program payments to those with existing systems as well as customers who install new electricity-generating equipment. The program is retroactive; Puget will pay for power generated from July 1, 2005, (the effective date of the legislation) through June 30, 2006, if those customers apply by the end of this month. They also need an interconnection agreement with the utility.
Thompson said the cost of the program is "relatively neutral for the utility," since it can claim a credit on its state utility tax for what it pays out.
While Puget hasn't estimated how much electricity it might receive as a result of the incentive plan, "We would have to think this incentive would spark some interest in those who have been considering" installing their own generating system, particularly with discussion of global warming and increasing oil prices.
Continue reading this story from the Seattle P-I:
Puget Sound Energy offers incentive plan
