Our energy company, BTU, is ahead of the curve in supporting innovation. We at Stearns Design Build are in the process of building what will be the first house in the county to sell solar generated energy back to the energy company. And BTU is providing substantial rebates to encourage this wise means of power generation. This is called net metering. By allowing excess energy to be sold back to the power company we eliminate the need for solar energy to be stored in batteries. Net metering is innovative technology that takes the cost, bulk and maintenance of battery storage out of solar energy production. By subsidizing the cost, BTU makes this technology much more accessible to its customers.
This may seem somewhat counterintuitive. I mean after all, isn’t BTU in the business of selling energy? Why would they want to help their customers supply their own energy? Part of this probably comes from them being good community stewards. But for the more cynical among us there is also a less altruistic explanation. The biggest cost of supplying energy comes from peak demand production. The energy company has to be able to create enough energy to meet its peak demand. Because there is a large differential between off times and peak times, energy companies have to create production capacities that spend a lot of time not producing. It just so happenes that solar production is highest during peak demand times. This allows BTU to reduce the overall cost of producing energy, which we all benefit from.
Whatever the reason, BTU deserves a big round of applause from all of us for being innovative in helping us lower energy costs while improving the environment. So show them your gratitude by placing solar panels on your house.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Way To Go BTU
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3 comments:
Hugh,
I am very excited to hear about this. We have been trying to promote this type of product in The Cove of Nantucket, without much success because people said BTU would never allow net metering. I am really looking forward to hearing about your results.
BTU is to be commended for their leadership in bringing this wonderful technology to us. I hope that this will help prevent apathy based on rumor in the future. This is something that we all engage in all too frequently. All the time we hear that this or that can't be done here in the Brazos Valley only to see it coming to fruition in the short term. Recent examples include, “we could never revitalize downtown Bryan”; “there is no way we can stop a super Wal-Mart from locating where they want”; “College Station will never embrace green initiatives.” In each of these cases the vision and leadership of individuals have made a difference. Thanks to people like Randall Spradley, John Crompton, our city staff, the citizens of the East Side and companies like BTU we are no longer the narrow minded monoculture that many perceive us to be. I look forward to the folks of The Cove of Nantucket becoming engaged in greening their community. There are many opportunities. With the will of our communities, intelligence of our leaders and brain trust of TAMU the Brazos Valley will become a paragon of innovative development and conservation. I’m glad that you are looking to become a part of this great transition.
That is a very ambitious goal. I would settle for more green and less sprawl.
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