With all the news of net metering, fair payment, and ridiculous surcharges I’ve decided to come up with what I feel is a fair value system that can be implemented.
Fair pricing in net metering should follow a few rules and be based on each municipality’s capabilities.
If the utility provider is able to use the excess provided by a solar customer at time of production that customer should receive resale rates.
If the excess can be stored for later use by the utility the customer will receive a discounted rate if that power is used by another entity. Customer will also receive a discount for any excess they may in turn use if the utility is able to store the excess.
If at anytime the excess exceeds the storage capability of the utility provider or the utility provider does not have their own storage capabilities there will be no payment for excess power generated. In such an event customer will also pay full price for any power they require from the grid regardless of how much they fed back to the grid.
In addition to grid providers, individuals may network with storage providers for micro grid operations. These may consist of privately or publicly funded energy storage which can then be resold within the network at market comparable rates. These rates must always be inline with the utility provider rates.
Lastly, as part of a new smart grid, power monitoring in emergency situations may result in reduced feed unless established emergency equipment is listed. This is to ensure basic needs can be met for the number of customers attached to any storage when sufficient input isn’t generated.
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