Duke Energy has proposed an expansion to its Green Source Advantage (GSA) program, giving customers the option to supplement their power usage with 100% renewable power — and the ability to pair renewable projects with energy storage. Details for the GSA Choice program were outlined in a filing with the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
Credit: Duke Energy
“Many of our large business customers seek renewable power sources and are making decarbonization a long-term part of their business plans,” said Lon Huber, Duke Energy’s senior VP of pricing and customers solutions. “Duke Energy is proud to offer these customers a wide range of options including the ability to increase their hourly use with carbon-free energy in one of the country’s first time-aligned clean-energy programs.”
Duke Energy’s GSA program was launched in 2017, and has been used by customers such as Charlotte, North Carolina, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Duke University. The proposal was just filed with the NCUC and there is no timeline for deliberation on it yet.
If passed, up to 4 GW of new development will be available under the GSA Choice program, which is more than 10 times its current capacity. It could provide customers a path towards having constant clean energy and allow large customers to offset their power purchases by securing renewable energy from projects connected to the Duke Energy grid. The customer may count the renewable energy generated to satisfy their sustainability goals.
Among the changes to the program:
- Customers can contract for up to 100% of their energy use. Previously, the program’s details only allowed for about 30% of total energy use.
- Customers can work directly with Duke Energy or independent developers for their long-term purchase of renewable energy.
- Customers may also combine energy storage with their project – allowing them to align the production of renewable energy with their energy load.
- Duke Energy is also proposing a new 10-year avoided cost bill credit option in addition to the existing hourly, 2-year and 5-year options.
Clean Energy Impact
Duke is also proposing Clean Energy Impact, a program for customers who want to claim a certain percentage of renewable energy through environmental attribute purchases in support of corporate sustainability goals, or for residential customers that would like to support the local renewable energy industry.
The program with feature locally-sourced renewable energy certificates and month-to-month contracts with no long-term commitments. Clean Energy Impact is designed for renters, or customers who aren’t able or looking to install solar.
“We’re continuing to fine-tune our renewable energy options for all customers and are looking at programs such as community solar in the future. That will allow customers to directly subscribe to the output of a solar facility,” Huber said.
News item from Duke Energy
“If passed, up to 4 GW of new development will be available under the GSA Choice program, which is more than 10 times its current capacity. It could provide customers a path towards having constant clean energy and allow large customers to offset their power purchases by securing renewable energy from projects connected to the Duke Energy grid. The customer may count the renewable energy generated to satisfy their sustainability goals.”
The customer may also want to choose a large solar PV array on their roofs a smart ESS in their garage and help isolate themselves from Duke Energy that is standing in the middle of the teeter-totter and leans towards the highest revenue stream. Right now solar PV and enegy storage is the revenue stream to chase in the electricity sector, with a 30% ITC. Duke will be “Duke” and use the monies gleaned from retail residential ratepayers to launch a lobbying campaign in North Carolina trying to get a bill written by the Legislature and passed to protect Duke’s regulated monopoly sooner or later. Meanwhile Duke will install solar PV farms and energy storage and rationalize since “they” are decreasing their carbon footprint, the customer’s shouldn’t mind paying “a little more” for “green generation” while installing infrastructure with the ITC that will allow Duke to absorb the ‘avoided costs’ and get a little more from the ratepayers for their green energy. Amortization for solar PV and ESS has been as low as 3 years and is often something like 10 years with a 20 to 25 year PPA allows plenty of years to capture revenues without big cash outlays.