But It Could Never Happen Here

The state of Maine experienced a power watch over the weekend because there's not enough power in the regional grid. The Power company says:

"[There's] a capacity deficiency, creating a need for Mainers to conserve electricity through Sunday night. Consumers are being asked to reduce their electricity use by shutting off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances and putting off activities such as laundry and dishwashing."

We all know this could never happen in Vermont because we have ample reserve capacity at Yankee.  However, we'd sure be in a pickle if Yankee ever went off line. This of course has me a little concerned so I set out to calculate what it would cost to install a home solar setup. Unfortunately, the economics are still not in favor of small scale solar ,even with the generous state and federal subsidies. The system recommended for my home had a 27.3 year payback assuming a $41/month in tax savings from interest deductions.  If this tax incentive is removed from the mix, the system never reaches break even.  However, I may still be able to justify the system if I can come up with a way of quantifying the political risk of climate change policies causing capacity problems in the future. 

Comments

[GreggB]

Not a problem we just bolt generators to the PTO shafts of all those tractors leftover from farms that have turned into housing tracts. Solving Vt's problems is so easy for me, I should be Governor.

[James Ehlers]

Perhaps that, in part, explains the enthusiasm behind solar-related business's promotion of the anthropogenic climate change theory. A necessary component of the business plan?