What is JEA missing in its valuation of solar?

By arbitrarily valuing distributed rooftop solar at $0.075 per Kwh, JEA is overlooking the many quantifiable values that rooftop solar delivers to all ratepayers. With only 500 homes out of 427,000 JEA customers having solar on their roofs, the benefits of rooftop solar to all JEA ratepayers is just beginning to be recognized.

Distributed Rooftop Solar is a Net-Benefit to All JEA Ratepayers.

1. Energy benefit – that actual amount of power produced on each rooftop lightens the generation and transmission load, which results in savings to all JEA ratepayers.
2. Capacity benefit – more rooftop solar reduces the need for future power plant construction, which results in a savings to all JEA ratepayers.
3. Private investments — the individual customer makes the investment in the system and bears all the costs and risks. Instead of all ratepayers chipping in to share the cost of new generation, rooftop solar is paid for by private investment, which results in a savings to all JEA ratepayers.
4. Fuel saving benefit – consumers with rooftop solar use less fuel generated used by the utility, resulting in a savings to all JEA ratepayers. 
5. Reduced Transmission & Distribution line losses – transmission and distribution systems are massively inefficient. Rooftop solar virtually eliminates transmission loss when excess electricity is shipped to the grid and consumed by the nearest neighbor, which results in a savings to all JEA ratepayers.
6. Fuel hedge benefits – solar uses no fuel, therefore no need for the utility to enter into fuel hedging contracts. Fuel hedge contract premiums are passed on to customers – a lot of price volatility associated with fossil fuels. Reducing these contracts is a savings to all JEA ratepayers.
7. Environmental benefit – solar uses no water, has no emissions, therefore has no environmental compliance costs – power with no compliance costs is a huge benefit to the utility – especially one as coal-heavy as JEA. Reducing these environmental compliance costs is a savings to all JEA ratepayers.
8. Economic benefit – job creation and the economic multiplier associated with those jobs, not to mention money staying in the local community instead of paid to JEA to partially pay for fuel (coal/natural gas) imported from out of state.

Special thanks to FlaSEIA for all their hard work in fighting JEA’s proposed changes to their net-metering policies.