Speak Up to Support a Fair Rate for Austin Rooftop Solar

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I’m both excited and concerned to hear that the Solar Standard Offer program is heading to Council for approval. I support the deployment of rooftop solar to enable a clean energy transition that also creates local green jobs. This new program has the potential to unlock rooftop solar for Austin and allow us to avoid continued use of polluting coal and gas. But the rate proposed by Austin Energy for the Solar Standard Offer program is too low to allow this program from reaching its potential.

A low rate will keep local rooftop solar deployment relatively small and slow and will make it seem like burning gas and polluting our air and fueling the climate crisis is our only option for local electricity generation. This isn’t a decision about a small program – it’s a decision about the future of our utility.

Austin Energy has proposed a rate that is much less than its current avoided costs delivered by local rooftop solar and a rate that is 23% less than what the utility currently pays customers with rooftop solar. That gap is caused by the utility giving zero value to avoided climate pollution. Austin Energy’s Value of Solar (VOS) tariff has always included a component that credits rooftop solar for environmental benefits. The Solar Standard Offer program is supposed to enable greater deployment of the same type of rooftop solar systems that are currently receiving the full VOS rate. The only difference is who would put up the capital for that investment – the property owner or a solar developer. The product (local solar energy) being provided to Austin Energy will be exactly the same.

As the climate crisis continues to worsen, the Austin community is paying the price – in lives, well-being and financially. Relying on polluting energy sources in the name of keeping rates as low as possible isn’t a path to true affordability. We pay in missed days of work and school from air pollution. We pay in increased energy use for air conditioning and other heat-related impacts. We pay in damages and lost economic opportunity from flooding and fires. In other words, you get what you pay for.

I’m asking you to approve the Solar Standard Offer program after amending the rate to match the full Value of Solar rate that was approved in the last rate case.

Sincerely,

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Speak Up to Support a Fair Rate for Austin Rooftop Solar

Speak Up to Support a Fair Rate for Austin Rooftop Solar

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