Some solar energy customers feeling burn of surprise charges

When Macon resident Stan Hutchinson decided to install solar panels at his home in 2015, one of the tipping points to do so was a rebate that Central Georgia EMC offered.

The combination of incentives plus the environmentally friendly form of energy appealed to him. Even with a federal tax credit, though, the solar panels were still a sizable investment: about $18,000.

For about a year and a half everything appeared to be going well — until January, when the utility added a tariff for solar use that’s increased his bill by about $52 a month. Central Georgia also lowered the tax credit that solar customers receive for excess power, Hutchinson said.

“I feel very victimized,” he said. “I can’t do anything about it. It’s not like I can go to another power company. It’s not like I have a voice.”

He added, “I was shooting toward having it break even. ... Some months I literally will pay more than a non-solar customer.”

According to the Georgia Solar Energy Association, the burgeoning solar energy industry could be under threat if it takes customers such as Hutchinson decades to recoup their investment. The association helps consumers with decisions on solar energy and helps them evaluate their solar options.

The association says some utility companies need to reverse a recent course in which people spending thousands of dollars on solar panels are now facing unexpected financial hurdles: The companies are tacking on new fees to customers who are also receiving a lower reimbursement for the power they sell back to the grid.

Central Georgia EMC says it’s now examining ways to change how electricity rates are assessed. The company said in a statement that it faces the challenge of keeping other customers from having to subsidize the solar energy services. Central Georgia has about 54,000 accounts across 14 counties, including Bibb, Butts, Jones, Lamar, Monroe and Putnam counties.

The solar industry in Georgia employs about 4,000 people and has experienced more than 20 percent job growth the last couple of years. Georgia ranks No. 8 in the country in terms of cumulative solar capacity installed, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Georgia's electric membership cooperatives and municipal electric authorities account for about 50 percent of the utility industry in Georgia. They don’t have the same regulatory oversight as Georgia Power Co. with the state Public Service Commission, said Don Moreland, chairman of the Georgia Solar Energy Association.

In some cases, solar power customers are “seeing the time they recoup their money go from 10 years to 80 years or sometimes even more,” Moreland said.

“The implications if this were to stand and continue are dire for the entire state solar industry,” he said. “This completely ruins their investments, but what it also does is send a chill throughout the solar industry as far as new installations.

“It’s kind of hard to sell something that’s not going to pay off for 100 years.”

“What we say is they’re infusing their monopoly power to quell any additional solar installations,” Moreland said. “This has been going on for a year now, and it’s mostly been the municipal co-ops (charging) such fees. But this is the first one seen on this scale at Central Georgia EMC.”

Central Georgia EMC counters that the tariff it charges consumers based on the size of the solar installation is designed to prevent other customers from subsidizing solar power services.

The utility is putting together a time-of-use unit — which should be available by this summer — that would allow customers using solar energy and others to see more savings “by making more informed decisions about their energy consumption.”

Central Georgia EMC says the latest Public Service Commission survey ranked it sixth out of 41 EMCs based on a residential rate survey. Central Georgia also has the lowest costs among 94 electricity suppliers in the state at the 2,000 kilowatt-hours level. The average Central Georgia EMC customer uses about 1,800 kilowatts-hours each month.

“A byproduct of having such low rates is the increased payback period experienced by customers utilizing distributed energy resources such as solar panels,” the statement said. “CGEMC remains committed to providing reliable, cost-effective electric power for customers in all rate classes.”

Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols is working with Central Georgia EMC on the time-of-use rate that could benefit both the companies and consumers.

"The Public Service Commission has limited authority over the EMCs — primarily in approving their finance projects," Echols said in an email. "But because of my extensive work with solar and Georgia Power, I wanted to urge the EMC in question to consider the type of time-of-use rate that Georgia Power is using."

"Time-of-use rates are based on the utilities' marginal or avoided costs," Echols said. "This is fair to all parties."

Bob Patel, the owner of the new Pin Strikes bowling alley, said he’s now paying $425 dollars per month in additional fees to Central Georgia EMC for using solar energy at the north Macon facility.

He said he was expecting to recoup his investment for the panels in about five years, but unless the energy costs improve, it’ll be decades before that happens.

“After two months, we see they had charged additional fees,” Patel said.

Hutchinson said that if a tariff is added to solar energy users, then what’s to prevent utilities from tacking on extra costs to other forms of alternative energy.

“We should be able to get something for the investment,” he said.

Some more openness about how charges are assessed could lead to a better outcome, said Julie Hairston, communications director for the Georgia Solar Energy Association.

“We think there is a way that all these stakeholders could come to the table and agree to a formula that would work for everybody,” she said.

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Some solar energy customers feeling burn of surprise charges."