The 2018 Solar Brakers include:īlue Ridge Energy, which serves 75,000 customers in northwestern North Carolina. The list also includes the region’s Solar Brakers, or utilities with rooftop policies that undermine, and in some cases, completely put the brakes on solar’s emergence as a feasible, cost-effective, and clean energy choice for customers. The 2018 Solar Makers include Southern electric utilities with current programs and policies that encourage rooftop solar investments. The website’s launch coincides with the release of SELC’s inaugural Solar Makers and Brakers list. “This website provides one of the first comprehensive views of how solar customers are treated by utilities across the Southeast.” “We believe that everyone should have the ability to harvest the sun’s energy at a reasonable price-creating stronger, cleaner, and healthier communities for all,” said Lauren Bowen, SELC staff attorney. Southerners have some of the highest residential electric bills in the country and going solar is one of the few options consumers have when it comes to making their own energy choices. Currently the Southeast has over seven gigawatts of solar installed, and another 10 gigawatts of capacity is projected for installation over the next five years. According to a recent report by the Solar Energy Industries Association, solar capacity is expected to more than double over the next 5 years. “This website provides a road map for educating and engaging communities interested in how their local utility stacks up against others when it comes to rooftop solar issues across the region.”Īcross the sunny South, people are turning to affordable rooftop solar to meet their energy needs. “With Rates of Solar, we aim to distill complicated rooftop solar policies for hundreds of utilities across the Southeast into simple, compelling stories that resonate with customers, advocates, utilities, and decision-makers,” said Jill Kysor, SELC staff attorney. The website provides easy access to information on more than 400 utility solar policies across SELC’s six -state region. Rory McIlmoil, Energy Savings Program Manager, 82Ĭat McCue, Communications Diretor, 43 Southern Environmental Law Center Launches New Website Shedding Light on Utility Charges for Rooftop Solar CustomersĬharlottesville, VA – Today the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) launched the Rates of Solar website, an interactive site that provides simple, straightforward information about how utilities across the Southeast are treating customers with rooftop solar on their homes. “Members want to be able to afford solar, but because of Blue Ridge’s policies, it’s just not cost-effective for them, and they don’t understand why their co-op is making it harder.” No other electric co-op in the state has as bad of a solar policy as Blue Ridge, so it’s easy to see why they’re being called out for putting the brakes on solar in the High Country.”īlue Ridge members who have looked into installing their own solar panels have expressed their frustration at the co-op’s policies, according to Appalachian Voices Outreach Coordinator Lauren Essick. “That fee alone nearly doubles the cost of a typical solar system over its lifetime. “The added fee that Blue Ridge charges members who want more clean energy and the freedom to invest in their own solar systems is punitive and discriminatory,” said Rory McIlmoil, Energy Savings Program Manager for Appalachian Voices. The additional fee, beyond what non-solar residents already pay, is a minimum of nearly $29 per month. The website, “Rates of Solar,” lists Blue Ridge among its solar “brakers” because of its high monthly fee for owner-members who install solar energy on their home. A new interactive website launched this week by the Southern Environmental Law Center highlights Blue Ridge Energy electric cooperative as having one of the worst solar energy policies of all electric utilities throughout the Southeast.
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