Gainesville Regional Utilities has attracted the eyes of environmentalists across the nation for a trail-blazing plan to encourage solar energy production by agreeing to buy the electricity above market value for 20 years. The plan — outlined to Gainesville city commissioners — would be one of the first of its kind in North America.
Ed Regan, assistant general manager for GRU strategic planning, discovered the incentive, called a “feed-in-tariff,” on a fact-finding trip to Germany where the renewable energy market is booming. “People are putting their pension funds into solar panels, holding companies are investing in renewable energy,” Regan said. “These are great investments because there’s a guaranteed price backed by German credit; in this case GRU’s credit is probably just as good.”
The idea behind the “feed-in-tariff” is substantially different from how most of the U.S. is now encouraging private investment in renewable energy and how GRU is now encouraging solar panel installation here in the Sunshine State. Essentially, GRU would buy all the energy produced by a solar photovoltaic system — solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity — over the next 20 years for a guaranteed rate per kilowatt hour — the price would be set to make solar energy production competitive, if not profitable, in Gainesville.
– from gainesville