AUSTIN, Texas — Local business owners will now have a way of getting involved with sustainable energy while making passive income through a new incentive program from Austin Energy.
Austin Energy’s Solar Standard Offer program will give business owners money back for every hour of energy they produce through solar.
“This program is going to change the market,” said Tim Harvey, the Customer Renewable Solutions Manager for Austin Energy.
Business owners can either buy their own panels or lease their roof or parking lot space out to third-party solar companies. Austin Energy will then pay the owners of the solar $0.1124 per kWh for systems under 1 MW and $0.0841 per kWh for larger systems.
If the business is renting their space to third-party solar developers, Austin Energy will pay the solar companies directly, then the businesses will be compensated through a lease payment.
Austin Energy leaders say a big-box store like Walmart could hold enough solar panels to generate about 400 kilowatts of energy per hour, so the owners would be getting about $45 an hour.
“It’s progressive, it’s environmentally friendly and it also helps with reliability to have that production in our load zone,” Harvey said.
Austin Energy has a goal of becoming completely carbon-free by 2035. The utility is already on the way, as it’s already about 70% carbon-free, and leaders say solar will play a large part in that.
“We’re always trying to get more solar on the distribution grid,” Harvey said.
The two main challenges with energy right now are making sure it’s reliable and affordable. Austin Energy says the cost of transporting energy around the state has been increasing, so generating energy more locally has been a large focus as of late.
“I think that having energy produced at the point of load, so where it’s being used is the most logical way to do it,” Harvey said. “It really kind of decentralizes the grid and makes it more reliable.”
Producing local sustainable energy also helps keep prices down, leaders say.
Austin Energy has already been working on increasing its solar production in the area for several years now through its Community Solar program. Through that program, residents who aren’t able to install solar on their homes are still able to opt into 100% locally-generated solar energy.
The Solar Standard Offer program will be launching mid-December and business owners can apply for it on Austin Energy’s website.
Source: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-energy-paying-business-owners-produce-solar-energy/269-81f6b343-5c8b-4639-bdc7-b9d3bcd58f44
