Public utilities can take up the solar mantle

Kristel High, Editor in Chief of Politic365 assesses the growing developments in utility-scale solar facilities in the US. Could this be the case in other countries? Any views?

Utility Scale Solar Among Most Affordable Options for Renewable Energy

As the EPA issues new rules on carbon emission standards and climate change deniers get a hefty dose of reality, greater strides to transition America to cleaner, greener energy technologies are taking place each day. One of the options growing in prominence is the appearance of utility-scale solar facilities across the country.

The latest in the line of public utilities to take up the solar mantle is Florida Power & Light, projected to introduce three major solar projects by 2016. With a service territory of roughly 4.7 million customers across Florida, FPL is the third largest electric utility in the nation. Currently, more than 96 percent of the company’s energy generation comes from renewable sources, like nuclear and natural gas. The new 75 megawatt solar arrays would add 225 MW of solar power to that mix.

As one of the two largest investor-owned utility companies in the state, FPL’s entrance into the solar market is said to be part of an effort to more affordably transition to cleaner energy outputs. The solar alternative provided by residential solar is too often inaccessible for many residents who lack the resources to purchase rooftop arrays. The utility-scale option enables the utility to generate and feed into the electric grid solar energy, a move that may ultimate save consumers money down the line.

As noted by Moray Dewhurst, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of FPL’s parent company, NextEra Energy Inc., during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call with investors, “distributed solar, especially residential, remains extremely high cost relative to our efficient generation fleet and will only serve to drive up customer rates if pursued in any quantity.”

Dewhurst also acknowledged, however, that while utility-scale solar is a more viable option, for providing solar energy solutions to consumers, it is not cost-effective to be employed across the company’s entire service territory, despite the federal subsidies that the company – like other solar developers – will get for employing the new technology. At best, the solar generating facilities are expected to be a net-net, and should not drive up consumer rates beyond typical investment expenditures.

In addition to the 225 MW of solar capacity FPL is expended to bring online over the next two years, NextEra Energy Resources, its sister company, already has a reputation for solar and wind development in other parts of the country, having contracted 445 MW of wind and solar during the third quarter alone, with an additional 600 to 800 MW expected to be initiated by years’ end.

In total, NextEra Energy is on track to have 1,600 and 1,800 MW of solar in operation by the end of 2016, with another 2,500 MW of wind by the end of 2015.