Generating Your Own Power
While the majority of our customers get their electricity from the PUD, a handful of customers have chosen to install customer-owned generators in order to supply some, or all, of their electricity needs. For these customer-generators, the PUD offers a net metering program that allows the owner to store, in the form of financial credits, any energy they have generated that is in excess of immediate needs.
Customer-generators with a capacity of 100kW or less, supplying electricity from a fuel cell, solar, wind or hydroelectric facility are eligible to participate in the PUD’s net metering program. The PUD participates in the renewable energy cost recovery incentive payment program. Incentive details can be found here: WSU Energy Program, Renewable Energy System Incentive Program. Additionally, federal tax incentives are available in certain circumstances.
Information on the federal tax incentives available can be found here: Federal Renewable Energy Tax Incentive Program
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at (509) 447-3137 or send an email to information@popud.org.
To apply to be a customer-generator for the district, please click to download the Application for Interconnecting Generation
Are You Considering Rooftop Solar?
Approximately 30 PUD customers have additional generation beyond the metered power they receive from us. One of these types of generation is rooftop solar. A rooftop solar installation at your residence or business could be worth the investment, but it is a complicated matter that needs to be thoroughly reviewed before making a decision.
The PUD recommends you shop around and get quotes from 3-5 different companies and review agreements carefully. Ask questions about the terms, duration and how the companies benefit from your purchase or lease. Make sure the company provides you information about any available tax or rebate incentives.
Is rooftop solar worth it? That depends on many factors and will require you to do your research. If you decide you want to have rooftop solar, please contact the PUD. There are requirements and paperwork that need to be in place to keep everyone safe.
Some Things to Consider:
- Is your roof south facing and in good condition?
- Will the location of the solar panels receive sun year-round and not be blocked by shadows from trees or other buildings?
- Our area averages about 175 sunny days a year, which means there are about 190 days with limited sunshine.
- How much energy do you use?
- If you monthly usage is not high, you likely won’t financially benefit from the cost of installation.
- The PUD has some of the lowest energy rates in the country at 0.0623 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)*. Power costs should be factored into whether or not it makes sense to spend the money on solar installation.
- Even with solar, you will still be billed the PUD’s monthly service availability charge.
- What is the cost of installation?
- There are solar companies that will sell, loan, or lease a rooftop solar installation.
- With a lease, the solar installer or another company owns the panels on your house.
- The terms of these types of agreements can vary from 10 to 25 years. You will need to consider if you will be in your same home or business for 25+ years.
- What about backup power and stored energy?
- If you want rooftop solar to be backup power during an outage, you will need to buy additional equipment to do so.
- A battery system allows generation to be stored for later use.
- These additional systems can be expensive and should be compared to the cost of installing a traditional backup generator.
*Rate as of August 2024.