Originally posted by cebury
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(Side note to POCOs: Think about getting out in front of battery tech. Own, embrace and facilitate the tech instead of making it your competition. If you'd have done that w/ PV, things would be a lot different today.)
I suspect the goal of the POCO's is to use solar and any other technologies to the extent they are viable and most cost effective. If that means 100% from renewables, so be it. But, NEM is not in the POCO's best interests. So, I'd expect them to do all they can to minimize it's impact on their operation and bottom line, as they are doing, but not with some vindictive goal of getting even or screwing their customers - that would be a childish and counterproductive way for them to look at it. And they don't. It's all about business and the bottom line for them, as it should be.
As for PV being worth it, you simply gotta' run the numbers, and that takes understanding how the tariffs work as well as how much and in what ways electricity is used on an individual basis. Like I wrote, not rocket science, just involved. Every situation is different. At this time, thinking it can be made a one liner will lead to a classic case of GIGO. Unfortunately, running the numbers under T.O.U. is just not as simple as on a tiered tariff, and with multiple tariff plans to compare. it's more involved still.
Shameless plug: Still the bottom line easiest path to the real goal of a lower electric bill (and not solar for its own sake it might be good to remember) is to simply use less electricity, first by turning stuff off and then time shift loads and so game the tariff, and then taking conservation measures to use less of that lowered and time shifted usage. Do all that, then see if some PV can be made cost effective for the remainder of the load.
Along the way, folks will have the opportunity (or need, as may become apparent) to make choices between money and comfort or other priorities.
Not as a value judgment, but as examples only: How much more $$ in electric bills is my comfort worth if I keep the house cooler ? Or, I've got a limited budget, so, do I want a bigger car payment or a cooler house ?
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