Regulators place conditions on Duke solar program

NORTH CAROLINA - North Carolina regulators have attached conditions to their approval of Duke Energy CarolinasÂ’ rooftop solar-energy initiative, and those restrictions could delay the programÂ’s launch, Duke says.

The N.C. Utilities Commission has approved the proposed $50 million program, which would generate about 10 megawatts of solar energy from panels the utility would own atop some customersÂ’ homes or businesses.

But spokeswoman Paige Sheehan says the company must determine the impact of the conditions the commission has imposed before it sets a start date for the program.

The key restriction included in the commissionÂ’s approval is a limitation on the amount of money Duke can recover under the stateÂ’s renewable-energy portfolio standards. That law sets minimum requirements for renewable-energy production in the state. But it also caps the amount of money a utility is required to spend on renewable sources of energy. Lawmakers added that provision to the 2007 legislation to protect utility customers from high power bills resulting from a utilityÂ’s investment in renewable power. Such energy is typically more expensive than power generated from traditional sources.

The commissionÂ’s Public Staff and others had questioned whether DukeÂ’s program could push the company to that cost limit long before it reached the annual goals for generating renewable energy.

Duke concedes the rooftop program will be more expensive than other solar alternatives. For instance, Duke expects to get more power at a lower cost from its plan to buy energy for resale from a solar farm Sun Edison is to build in Davidson County by 2011. But Duke contends there are sound public-policy reasons for accepting the more expensive program.

Sheehan says Duke remains committed to the rooftop solar initiative. And she says the delay to review the impact of the commissionÂ’s conditions will be short.

Related News

Coal, Business Interests Support EPA in Legal Challenge to Affordable Clean Energy Rule

WASHINGTON - The largest trade association representing coal interests in the country has joined other business and electric utility groups in siding with the EPA in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's repeal of the Clean Power Plan.

The suit -- filed by the American Lung Association and the American Public Health Association -- seeks to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to drop a new rule-making process that critics claim would allow higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions, further contributing to climate change and negatively impacting public health.

The new rule, which the Trump administration calls the "Affordable Clean…

READ MORE

Share of coal in UK's electricity system falls to record lows

READ MORE

texas residents line up for water

Texas's new set of electricity regulators begins to take shape in wake of deep freeze, power outages

READ MORE

San Diego Gas & Electric

Utilities commission changes community choice exit fees; what happens now in San Diego?

READ MORE

downed power lines

Can the Electricity Industry Seize Its Resilience Moment?

READ MORE