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One man's "the utility will be making less profit" is another "the utility will invest less in the infrastructure" especially in the case of municipal utilities

One man's "the utility will be making less profit" is another "the utility will invest less in the infrastructure" especially in the case of municipal utilities. I think bundling in "maybe utilities won't spend their revenue wisely" is a distraction; if that's the big problem, that we're worried about what they're doing with the money they get from feeds, let's start pushing for that specifically. > I actually am a huge fan of individual solar installs: it forces people to focus on their own consumption and their own habits rather than to see everything in terms of a couple of numbers. Once you realize how much you have to invest in order to generate a KWh you will most likely be more careful about how you use that, and conservation, not generation and definitely not storage has the biggest positive effect on the environment. I think the current metering discourages that. Getting paid for excess at higher rates means you can get away with higher overall use to make back the same amount of $$$. Do you have any numbers on "total KWH used" for households with solar vs without solar?

jacquesm 4y ago
I have my own. And the numbers are pretty much in line with my comments upthread: up to my own consumption net metering helps to keep things balanced, my own consumption is 1/3rd of what it was before going all in on renewables and the excess part doesn't move the needle so now I will install an air/air heatpump to create even more of an offset. I'm trying to get to completely neutral before the end of next year but in the winter this is going to be hard, especially without net metering.
- majormajor 4y ago
  Ah, yeah, my behavior is the opposite. If we had solar we would probably close the windows more and use the heat pump/AC more, for starters. Or defer new windows / insulation for longer... "I have more, so I can use more."
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Insulation is a good ROI, new windows too if you have really crappy ones but we already have fairly good ones but bad frames so that will come after the insulation and the heat pump are in place. Altogether it's a 75K project and it will cut the power bill from $1500 / month or so to $100 to $200. That's at present day power prices, which are still very high here, the changes so far have cut that 1500 to 750 so there is still a ways to go to the goal. I really hope to be able to get rid of the gas, that's the biggest dependency that I would like to remove.
    - majormajor 4y ago
      Ooh the power bill context really makes the difference in approach make sense. We're under $100 most months, so very different incentives for sure. Small house, good breezes, very new heat pump. So even something like better insulation has issues that make me wary - if not done right, could be more condensation problems inside the walls, so probably would want to redo the full sheathing too, and then might as well do more, etc, etc...

jacquesm 4y ago

I have my own. And the numbers are pretty much in line with my comments upthread: up to my own consumption net metering helps to keep things balanced, my own consumption is 1/3rd of what it was before going all in on renewables and the excess part doesn't move the needle so now I will install an air/air heatpump to create even more of an offset. I'm trying to get to completely neutral before the end of next year but in the winter this is going to be hard, especially without net metering.

majormajor 4y ago
Ah, yeah, my behavior is the opposite. If we had solar we would probably close the windows more and use the heat pump/AC more, for starters. Or defer new windows / insulation for longer... "I have more, so I can use more."
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Insulation is a good ROI, new windows too if you have really crappy ones but we already have fairly good ones but bad frames so that will come after the insulation and the heat pump are in place. Altogether it's a 75K project and it will cut the power bill from $1500 / month or so to $100 to $200. That's at present day power prices, which are still very high here, the changes so far have cut that 1500 to 750 so there is still a ways to go to the goal. I really hope to be able to get rid of the gas, that's the biggest dependency that I would like to remove.
  - majormajor 4y ago
    Ooh the power bill context really makes the difference in approach make sense. We're under $100 most months, so very different incentives for sure. Small house, good breezes, very new heat pump. So even something like better insulation has issues that make me wary - if not done right, could be more condensation problems inside the walls, so probably would want to redo the full sheathing too, and then might as well do more, etc, etc...