Meridian cut casts a shadow over solar plans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BY DAVID SENN / ECONERGY

Meridian cut casts a shadow over solar plans

Meridian Energy’s slashing of solar buy back rates has messed with my plans for installing solar power – big time.

This past week Meridian Energy, following Contact’s lead, slashed buy back rates for electricity generated from rooftop solar panels from 25 cents per kWh to an average of 8 cents per kWh (plus GST). The 25 cents was paid on the first 150 kWh generated per month, and dropped to 10 cents for every kWh generated over and above that threshold.

Other power companies offered varying degrees of buy back – for example Mercury Energy’s 1:1 system, however the clincher for Meridian’s offer was that it appeared as a credit on the monthly power bill, and included the network charges when crediting for electricity sold back to the grid.

My original plan was to practically cover our roof in solar panels – about 4 or 5 kW of peak electricity generation. Then switching over to Meridian I would have received an annual credit on my power bill for $517.50 plus any additional units sold back at 10 cents per kWh plus GST. That would have been the case under the “old” buy back rates.

We are a fairly small user of power thanks to our heat pump water heater and log burner, and my calculations showed that with that amount of solar power and a decent buy back rate I could have had a net zero power bill for the year. That was certainly something I was looking forward to.

Well that was my plan – but with the big drop in the buy back rates - that plan is now in the recycling bin.

If I do solar now, and the big question is IF, as the economics aren’t nearly as attractive, I’ll need to recalculate based using the electricity rather than selling back to the grid. I’ll be focused on using the power that I generate as much as possible and trying do as many tasks as I can during the day. Hot water is a biggie, but I’ll look at dishwashing, drying and whatever else I can “shift”.

I’ll also be much more cautious about the size of the system I’ll be installing bearing in mind we only use about 5000kWh per year. I’m thinking about 2kW of solar panels should do the trick. Why should I export power back to the grid and be paid an insultingly small amount: about one-third what I’m paying to purchase the same commodity? Why should I subsidize the power company’s operations?

Well that reminds me of the next thing on my wish list…time to change out those old light fittings for some snazzy new LED ones !

David runs Econergy Limited, manufacturer of the Econergy Water Heater. Econergy is a Finalist in the 2014 Sustainable Business Awards.

ENDS

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