GMP (Green Mountain Power) launches new effort to promote solar power

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/05/15/gmp_launches_new_effort_to_promote_solar_power/

GMP launches new effort to promote solar power

By Dave Gram
Associated Press Writer / May 15, 2008

MONTPELIER, Vt.—Customers of Green Mountain Power Corp. who have been thinking about installing solar panels on their roofs now have a powerful new reason to do so: the opportunity to sell their excess electricity to the utility.
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The new solar incentive goes beyond the more traditional "net metering" programs in which customers who make their own power and don't use it all can ship the excess back onto the grid, reducing their electric bill. If the program is approved by the state Public Service Board, the company will pay solar generators 6 cents per kilowatt-hour of power they generate besides the net metering benefit.

"This proposal will make solar energy more attractive to homeowners and businesses in Vermont," said Mary Powell, chief operating officer with GMP. "We are doing everything we can to encourage the adoption of solar energy. It is good for Vermont economically and environmentally."

GMP spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure said the utility effectively would be paying a total of 19 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar-generated power. Net metering customers now get 13 cents for each kwh they send onto the grid deducted from their bills, which can be reduced to zero. If they generate more power than they use, the amount the utility "owes" them can be credited from month to month, but any credit left over at the end of the year goes away, Schnure said.

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[democrank]

1. Go Vermont!

A very special place