Your Utility Bill is Rising, but Solar is Staying the Same
Last month, we posted a blog about repowering your aging solar system to maximize your solar savings. If you missed it, here’s the link: Time to Get Even More from Your Solar System with a Repower.
Like many businesses, you may have a solar system that works just fine, but still watch your bill go up. Utility rates keep climbing at a pace well above inflation. Here’s what we see most with Central Valley operators.
Your operation grew and your system didn’t. It was sized for what you ran at the time. You’ve since added acreage, purchased equipment, or expanded the business. It covers less of your bill every year.
Your production has changed. New crops, different equipment, longer hours, seasons you never used to run. Your solar still produces on the schedule it always did.
Your peak energy usage went up. Every piece of equipment you add raises the highest fifteen minutes of consumption in your billing period. Your demand charges get set on that number. Demand charges have climbed faster than anything else on your bill.
4 Potential Solutions:
Request a Free Energy Audit and we’ll look at all four solutions for your operation. We pull your bills, compare what your system is producing against what it should be, and tell you which ones are worth doing. No cost, no obligation. If none of them work for you, we’ll tell you that too.
Repower your existing system. We find where the existing system is losing you money, then replace equipment, resize for what you run today, or move you onto a better rate schedule. If the cost sits outside your capital budget, we can finance it with nothing out of pocket, and we’ll buy your existing system from you outright. Read more in last month’s blog.
Add a separate system that doesn’t send power to the grid. A second system alongside your existing solar, serving your load directly. It never exports, so it doesn’t require altering your current net metering agreement. It covers the share of your bill the existing solar isn’t reaching.
Move your solar credits to the meter where they’re worth the most. If you run several meters across contiguous parcels, your credits may be landing on a cheap meter. A pump meter and a house meter don’t pay the same. Sometimes this is a paperwork change with no equipment at all.
Add battery energy storage. A battery gives you control over when your solar gets used, and it works across a range of energy system configurations. It can also cut the peaks that set your demand charges. Batteries cost less than they used to, so if you passed on one before, it’s worth another look.
Let’s Get Started.
Fill out the form below and we’ll come back to you with what fits your operation.
REQUEST YOUR FREE ENERGY AUDIT
Or call James Kennedy directly at (559) 593-1677, jkennedy@jkbenergy.com