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Selling Solar
State regulator explores why there are more sellers of solar power than buyers
by Walter C. Jones, Morris News Service
August 18, 2009
ATLANTA – One state regulator is trying
to find out why there are more people interested in selling solar power than there are willing to
pay extra to buy it.
Stan Wise, one of five members of the all-Republican Public Service Commission, wants to
know if Georgia Power Co. is doing enough to market the benefits of its Green Power program. Since
the program began in October, 2006, only about 4,000 of the company's 2.3 million customers have
signed up for energy generated from renewable sources, including solar.
"My major concern is that we're putting more solar power into the system and nobody's buying
it," Wise said. "We need to be more aggressive in the marketing of this solar if nobody is going to
buy."
The Green Power subscribers agree to pay $3.50 for blocks of 100 kilowatt hours each month –
about one tenth of the usual home's consumption. They would have to pay $4.50 if they want 10
percent of each block to come from solar. Most of the green power, which constitutes less than 1
percent of the utlility's total generation, comes from burning or wood chips or methane gas
produced at landfills.
Environmental groups want the utility to use more solar than methane because they believe
the increased demand will result in technological breakthroughs needed to make solar more
economical. "I don't think we can placate this green lobby," Wise said.
Georgia Power is required to buy solar power from any customer who generates more than they
need. The first 1,500 kilowatts sold in a given month brings the customer 18.31 cents per kilowatt
hour. Any solar power sold back above that amount gets just 5 or 6 cents, the standard price the
utility pays for most of its energy.
On June 30, the commission raised the price for the solar buyback by about half a penny and
tripled the amount that could qualify, partly at the request of Georgia Power.
"We were hearing from customers that they wanted to sell more solar energy but that the cap
had been reached," said company spokeswoman Lynn Wallace.
The self-supporting program only collects about $3 million, and 26 percent of that already
goes toward marketing. The company prefers to keep the bulk of the money going toward the purchase
of energy rather than sales promotion, Wallace said.
And she said the utility doesn't want to draw money from other ratepayers outside the
program to boost marketing or purchases of solar power.
"We want to make sure that our regular ratepayers who aren't participating in this program
aren't impacted," she said.
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