The Impact of Soaring Solar Installations

Minnesota is trailing Maine in the rush to switch to solar installations for electricity generation. That may be a good thing for homeowners who have not converted. Main Governor Janet Mills enacted measure rich in incentive programs to boost the state’s solar power ratios. The programs included credits for owners of solar installations when the excess generated power is transferred back to the electric grid. Maine’s net energy billing has not only created a conversion and development rush, but the state’s two largest utilities may revenues over one hundred sixty (160) million dollars a year according to Maine Public Utilities commission analysis.
That charge is likely to be passed on to grid electricity customers still buying their electricity from the utility firms. For residential customers, it may mean a rate hike resulting in an electricity billing increase of around ninety dollars to one hundred and forty dollars a year. For a commercial enterprise with electricity demand of one megawatt, the twenty percent price hike would be more in a range from Eighty two thousand dollars to one hundred twenty eight thousand dollars!
The significance of what Maine is facing, is that consumers in Minnesota are also benefitting from conversions to solar powered electricity to run their homes and businesses. While the incentives may not be quite as high, it still means those who did not choose to convert may also soon see rising electricity costs. While it may not make or break residential electricity power customer’s budgets, Not converting a business could have more significant ramifications.
Minnesota Power had requested a rate increase of 5.75 percent in November 2019. With the Covid-19 business restrictions and reduced income, Minnesota Power amended that request in April 2020 to a final average increase of 4.1 percent across all customer classes. The 4.1 percent rate increase was approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and on the first of May 2020 the rate increase was dropped from the 5.75 to the 4.1 percent. Minnesota Power began issuing refunds. Most residential customers refunds were around twenty dollars refund while most business customers were looking at refunds of around seventy dollars each.
This increase is Minnesota Power’s attempt to cover the lower revenues as customers switch to self-owed solar power generation installations. There may be more to come as Minnesota residents and enterprises look for renewable energy resources to run their homes and businesses. If you have been considering the switch, visit Renewable Solar Resources website, or call for your free consultation. Renewable Solar reviews your property, then walks you through the best potential locations for your solar panel installation, ways to conserve on electricity that saves you money as well as electricity, and lays out your return on investment, as the savings mount.
Renewable Solar Resources makes the process of going solar easy for homeowners. If your roof or yard and your electricity bill meet the right criteria, we can start the solar panel installation process immediately for your home or business. We do the configuration and hard work. You just need to contact us and open the conversation. We respond quickly to all calls and website contact us messages to answer all your questions!
Renewable Solar Resources is a renewable energy firm because we are committed to facilitating Minnesota homeowners’ conversion over to renewable power sources. We are proud of helping our customers understand, design, and implement clean affordable energy solutions. Contact us today for more information.