DIY Solar Power System
June
Breaking news on rising rnergy costs in California…
From Associated Press : “Calif. regulators approve SoCal Edison rate hikes”
ROSEMEAD, Calif.—California regulators have approved a Southern California Edison Co. rate hike that adds $2 to $4 a month to the average residential bill.
Rosemead-based Edison says rate hikes are necessary to upgrade transmission lines and buy equipment.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the increases Thursday. The hikes go into effect April 4.
PUC president Michael Peevey says it will add $2 to the average monthly residential bill of $85, but consumer groups estimate it’s closer to $4. Rates for business firms also increase.
Edison estimates 65 percent of its 4.3 million residential customers would see little or no change in their monthly charges because they participate in special programs for low-income families or consume little power.
From Orange County Register : “Regulators approve $2.1 Billion electric rate hike”
State regulators have approved a rate hike that will give Southern California Edison an extra $2.1 billion in revenue over the next three years.
The hike will raise the average residential bill $2 or so, to $85 a month, officials said.
Some details of the proposal changed on the dais, but regulators granted the utility $106 million for employee incentive pay, and $4.4 million to start re-licensing San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, where licenses expire in 2022.
Thursday morning, the California Public Utilities Commission chose the greater increase of two rate hike proposals before it, on a 4-1 vote. Emerging victorious was a slightly-scaled-down plan penned by commission president – and former Southern California Edison executive – Michael Peevey.
The rejected proposal would have given Southern California Edison a smaller increase – about $1.4 billion over three years. That was not enough.
“I cannot support a decision that would leave California hamstrung,” Peevey said. The less-expensive rate hike “would require deferral of vital infrastructure projects and potentially lay off hundreds of workers,” he said.
Commissioner Dian Grueneich was the only one to disagree.
“If ever there was a time to leave these dollars in the hands of Southern California Edison’s customers, now is the time,” said Grueneich.
The smaller increase was robust and prudent, she said. It would have saved ratepayers $765 million over the next three years, while still allowing Southern California Edison to invest in infrastructure.
Grueneich took particular exception to Southern California Edison’s claims that the smaller increase would force it to lay off 1,000 workers. “Edison’s claim defies logic,” she said, suggesting the utility was “crying wolf.”
More excerpts:
“Edison is taking advantage of economic concerns to drive through rate hikes that can only add to the pain,” TURN executive director Mark Toney said in a prepared statement. “The CPUC did all Edison customers a disservice today.”
That sentiment was echoed by the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, the PUC’s independent consumer advocacy arm. This decision gives Edison “excessive revenue increases,” it said in a prepared statement.
“The cumulative amount of the increases and the resulting rise in electric rates will impose an additional financial burden on Edison’s Southern California customers and households during these difficult economic times,” said DRA Deputy Director David Ashuckian in the statement.
For the full story click here .
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HelioPower and groSolar have been awarded the new San Diego 1BOG program, which kicks off this week. The program brings homeowners together to secure group pricing for solar power installations.
From the 1BOG website:
We’re extremely happy to have partnered with both solar integrators, and they are working very closely on this program with each other to keep it simple and provide the same pricing and service to all 1bog participants. When we decided to chop up San Diego I anticipated a 4 hour conversation before we had an equitable split of territory, and it actually only took 30 seconds. groSolar said, “We’re thinking this, what do you think?” to which HelioPvower replied, “yup that works for us.” And since then they’ve been meeting regularly to discuss best practices for the program. (Dave Llorens, co founder)
From the groSolar RFP response: “From the panels to the smallest bits you’ll see us use the highest quality parts in the business. We build our systems to last, and back them with a full system 10 year warranty. Moreover, if your system goes down, we will fix it in one day or pay you for the lost power until we do get it fixed –this is our one day reliability guarantee and it is also good for 10 years. This guarantee is not just your standard manufacturer’s warranty, but is in fact our pledge that we will stand behind the return on investment promised in each of our proposals, and we will put it in writing and back it up with our pocket books.”
From the HelioPower RFP response: “HelioPower has installed systems in the San Diego area for almost a decade. We were founded in San Diego in 2001 and have a strong customer base and reputation for quality in the area. We actively participate in area events including Green Build San Diego, Western Days, the Avocado Festival, Temecula Balloon & Wine festival, as well as various Earth Day events. Tyler Michael, one of our local San Diego sales reps, is the trusted resource for CCSE when referring utility customers to an expert on the complex NSHP program. HelioPower is also proud of the fact that we’ve installed almost a dozen utility projects specifically for SDGE. We are very familiar with interconnection and permit requirements and have processed hundreds of solar rebates in San Diego.”
HelioPower will be working in the Northern San Diego area, with groSolar taking southern San Diego. More information is available on the 1BOG website .
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May
The New Solar Homes Partnership Program (NSHP) is part of the $3.3 billion California solar Initiative. In the New
Solar Homes Partnership, a solar home is a highly energy efficient home that uses photovoltaic (or PV) modules to generate electricity from the sun. The program offers help financial incentives to make building new homes with solar easier and more cost effective than ever. Over the next 13 years this program will reward builders with $400 million in solar rebates.
HelioPower’s energy consultant, Tyler Michael, has developed a specialty working to help homeowners take advantage of this program. Working in the San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) utility territory, Tyler was recently quoted in the utility’s NSHP Program Fact Sheet.
Tyler works with homeowners and builders to meet the criteria of NSHP. Tyler has also worked with many “fire survivors” in the San Diego area to help them navigate the program.
“This program requires extensive cooperation between the architect, the contractor, the homeowner, and Heliopower to qualify them for the rebate.. NSHP has a much higher rebate allowance per watt than the normal CSI program,” said Tyler.
It is very important to plan the solar power system at the beginning of home design so that all the requirements can be met for this program. Advance planning is critical to qualify without adding more cost in the future. Upfront planning results in an energy efficient home in the future, which saves money every month on energy bills. “If you wait and install the solar power as a retrofit, you lose up to $1.00/watt in rebate. For an average home that would be about $5000,” said Tyler.
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HelioPower joins other environmentally oriented companies to support the city of Palm Desert’s Bright Ideas Expo , this Saturday, March 14, from 11am to 3pm. The focus of this family oriented & kid-friendly Expo is: Ideas to save money on your energy bills, and living “green.”
The Expo will be held in the Palm Desert Civic Center Park, located at Fred Waring Drive and San Pablo Avenue. HelioPower local solar energy experts, Matt Rifkin and Matt McPherson, will be at Booth 29! Talk to our Palm Desert team about how we can help you reduce or eliminate your electric bill and use the city’s Energy Independence Program to finance the purchase.
For more information about the Palm Desert Energy Independence Program, click here.
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