Stealing Electricity

Perhaps you can generate electricity yourself for less if you only consider the cost of diesel fuel and motor oil, but when you include the cost of replacing the generator when it wears out it is hard to see any savings. Cheap gasoline motors only are expected to last 500 hours, a diesel for a 20Kw - 30 Kw generator might give you 5,000 hours (208 days 24 x7 ) if you take really good care of it. Also to be sure that you have power 24/7 365 days you will need a backup generator when your primary set is off line for maintenance and repairs.

Jim

Ok....This has gone on long enough. I need to settle this.

You'll get it from me!!! You'll pay it, AND LIKE IT!!!!!
Sincerely;

WAPA :X

PS, Don't make me send someone to "read" your meter!

For the homeowner, diesel is impractical unless the load is unusually large. We have a small cottage with low demand and asolar/battery/inverter system with standby generator for charging on cloudy stretches paid for itself, including battery replacement, in 7 years or so at the 2006 WAPA rate. However, I would build and maintain the system myself which is a big savings.

Does anyone use solar energy there? Seems given the sunshine it would be a good option. Expensive to start but from what I'm bearing wapa is a nightmare. Perhaps I need to strat thinking of that as our business venture when we make the move?

We generated our own power at the Buccaneer. We figured all the costs. Depreciation on the engines ( we had six). Fuel, maintenance, labor to maintain the system, and a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember. We could generate our own power for less than 1/2 the price per kwh that WAPA was charging, and our system was reliable.

Solar seems promising but the initial investment is so high it makes it tough.

If Solar is really feasible what is needed is a solar power "utility" company that basically owns the panels/batteries etc. installs them on your house then charges you a monthly bill. If its feasible would set it up so that you took someone's Wapa bill for a year and charged them that minus a percentage. All repair/maintenance would be done by the solar utility. To the end homeowner there is no risk up front, they still have the idea of a "utility" aka someone else responsible for their power generation and maintenace, can save a bit of money, would hopefully have more reliable power, and would have a price that is somewhat fixed. To the utility they get to charge some of the highest rates in the country and STILL beat out WAPA.

The question is can the business case be made for something like above?

Sean

The current rebates and fed tax incentives reduce the cost of installing solar/battery system to about a third of the sticker price, according to a friend who just did it, and who now sells power back to WAPA. $21000 system installed for $7000 and a net-metering credit most months.

RKS,

The rebates/fed tax incentives are a paradigm shifter...although who pays for them? We do via our taxes. I understand their purpose, which is to help change the paradigm, but in the long run solar has to be competitive with other forms of energy on a total cost basis. If everyone went solar then we'd be broke giving out these rebates.

I really like the idea of a "service" or "utility." I simply don't have time to keep up with another thing in my life...having a 3rd party company own the panels, provide a service of maintaining them, and bill me like a utility would really be killer.

Sean