APS, SRP, TRICO and TEP Incentives

In general, incentives offered by the electric utility companies are decreasing. Due to the demand in 2009, both TRICO and Sulphur Springs electric coops are temporarily out of funds for the one time rebate. Sulphur Springs may not have the money available to pay the one time rebate for 3-4 years. The incentives offered by the utilities vary quite a bit. For example, TRICO will cover up to 40% of the cost of a residential solar system with its' one time incentive, APS 50% and TEP 60%.

TRICO offers a one time incentive up to $3 per installed watt(last year it was $4), up to 40% of the cost of the system, for systems up to 10 kw, for both residential and commercial systems. There is a rebate reservation list, and the wait time is not clear. For systems 10kw or larger, they offer performance based incentives, but are not specific in the rate per kWh.

http://www.trico.coop/index.php/renewable-energy

TEP currently offers $3 per installed watt for grid tied systems, covering up to 60% of the system, and they have the funds available. This is a good deal that customers should take advantage of now. TEP offers $2 per watt for off grid systems. TEP has made changes to their commercial solar incentive that have not yet been published. We expect to have that information later this week.http://www.tep.com/Green/

APS offers a rebate of $3 per installed DC watt for grid tied systems, and $2 per watt for off grid systems in their service area. This up front incentive cannot be more than 50% of the total installed price of the system, not including the savings from federal and state tax credits, and customers must pay at least 15% of the cost of the system, after applying the rebate, federal and all tax credits.http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/choice_66.html

APS offers commercial customers a choice of an up front rebate or production based incentives. The commercial rates quoted on the APS website are the maximum they might approve. Projects requesting less than the maximum are more likely to be approved. A competent solar installation contractor can negotiate with APS for you. Please consult the attached APS website pages for more details explaining the non-residential solar incentives they offer http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/choice_67.html

SRP offers less in incentives to residential customers than APS. They are currently offering $2.70 per watt, up to a maximum of $13,500, through April 30, 2010. SRP offers $2.25 per watt up front incentive for commercial systems less than 50 kw, with a $112,500 maximum. See the table on this attached web page from SRP which details the rate schedule through April 30, 2015. All incentives, maximum amounts, one time and performance based are going down each fiscal year through April 20, 2015 http://www.srpnet.com/environment/earthwise/solar/newstructure0110.aspx

The performance based incentives, or PBIs, offered by the electric companies are generally for commercial installations, and will be explained in detail in a future blog post.

In the next blog post we will look at other factors to consider in deciding if a solar electric system is right for you.