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Featured Listener Comments Section: Contents List |
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Listener: Cris
Category: Lubbock City Politics
Date: 12 Nov 2009
Time: 18:30:41 -0700
Remote Name: 70.242.183.106
Pratt,
My name is Cris, and I am a solar electricity contractor here in Lubbock. I have a need for a voice regarding LP&L's refusal to allow anyone to go solar.
Despite their advertisements, LP&L is anti-green. They have stonewalled me at
every turn and have refused to let one of their customers even put up a small
system that would have only handled about 50% of their electricity needs. Since
LP&L is a municipality, they are at liberty to choose whether they will allow
for renewable energy sources, and they have chosen not to allow it.
The reason they cite is due to the contract they have with Xcel, which states
that they can only purchase energy from
Xcel and no one else. They claim that if they allow even one watt of energy into
their grid (even if they didn't pay the customer a dime for it - and they won't)
that they would be violating the contract with Xcel. After speaking with the
people at Xcel, they responded by saying that they didn't interpret the contract
that way, but if LP&L did, then I would have to take it up with them. As you can
see, this is a dead end issue and that is the way that LP&L prefers it.
Being a fan of the show, I figured that maybe this issue could be brought out in the open on the show to raise people's awareness and maybe bring pressure on local officials to cause LP&L to make the necessary changes to allow it's customers to go solar - and to make provisions to at the very least discount their monthly bill accordingly for the excess energy that the solar panels produced.
Thanks for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Cris
Pratt responds:
My limited understanding is that, under the law, they must buy back any energy generated by customers but I could be wrong as that may have changed. As to their supposed contract with Xcel, I'd ask LP&L just how they are taking energy back from the wind turbines at the cotton oil mill if their claim is true. Their reluctance is likely not anti-green energy but anti-cost as it can be costly engage in this type of function. Threatening to put your own generator in at a transmitter site used to be a great way to get regulated power companies to bump you into a lower rate category because they didn't want to have to incur the costs involved in setting up to regulate the power bought back from you.
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