Questions linger for utilities’ green power plans
Posted on November 18th, 2009
Greenwire: Many electric utility customers have in recent years been flooded with notices that, if they opt for higher rates, their electricity could be provided by 100 percent clean wind or solar power. But questions linger for such voluntary programs about how much they support renewable projects and where the money is going.
In perhaps the most egregious case, last year regulators killed a green power program by Florida Power and Light after finding that its promised solar facilities were far behind schedule and that a vast majority of customers’ additional revenues were going into marketing and administration.
“No reasonable person would have contributed to the Sunshine Energy Program had they known approximately 76.4 percent of the contributions would be spent on marketing and administrative expenses instead of renewable energy,” wrote Nathan Skop, a Florida Public Service commissioner, in a note accompanying the termination decision.
Nationwide, an average of 19 percent of these funds goes into marketing and promotion, with the numbers for smaller utilities much higher.
Typically, much of the additional funds are used to purchase renewable energy certificates from wind and solar farms. But many are split on whether these funds actually result in further renewable energy construction (Kate Galbraith, New York Times, Nov. 17). – PV