Please bear with me on this.
I am not posting this to get flames or to get people mad.
I am trying to apply normal logic to the subject of selling power back to the utility.
And why I think net metering is not valid.
The problem is the electrical system is not 100% efficient.
The normal transformer you connect to the grid with is normally
more than 90% efficient but never 100% efficient.
So the idea of being credited for the Kwh's you feed into the
grid at the same rate as the kwh's you use off the grid is automatically
rendered in error, with the error going to the house owner and
the utility has to swallow any losses that occur to the power
as it goes to the next home in the system, even when they
are not getting a dime off of it.
(They are actually losing money.)
But having it where the home owner gets paid the Wholesale price
for the power they generate isn't valid either.
When you use power, they make a profit off of it, when
you sell it back, they make a profit off of it when it
goes to another home owner.
The most applicable system
(if you wanted solar/alternative energy to be a zero load on the System)
would be to sell the energy back at a rate that would subtract
transformer round trip energy losses from the total sold back to the power company.
And subtract the average inter house system losses from the power sold back.
And subtract the upkeep for the part of the utility system that they are using.
That would be fare to the power company and to the other people paying a utility bill.
If the person wanted to reduce the amount that is subtracted from the
energy that is sold back, he could chip in on the price of the transformer
feeding his house to get a high efficacy model that will have less round trip losses.
That way, he could sell power back to the grid at almost the rate he uses it from the grid.
But any way you go, when the total grid connected capacity gets over a certain point,
the power company will need to be allowed to make a slight profit off of the
tower people feed back into the grid, to stay in business.
Around here, where we have an REMC that provides utility service.
And the fact that they sell it to the customers at the price it cost to deliver it.
(ie) non for profit.
It would be quite correct for them to pay you Wholesale price for the power you generate.
Because the price they are selling it for is the retail price plus system losses and
cost to upkeep the system.
(nothing more)
