"Utility Sales May Drop by Half as Homes Make Their Own Power"

"Utilities in the U.S. Northeast stand to lose as much as half of residential sales by 2030 as customers install solar and battery-storage systems and generate their own power, according to a report by the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Residential and commercial customers who opt for alternatives to traditional, utility-supplied electricity could erode power sales in the region by as much as $34.8 billion, the Snowmass, Colorado-based energy consultant said in the report released Tuesday. Fewer kilowatt-hours sold to customers also will affect utilities’ abilities to raise the estimated $2 trillion that needs to be spent to maintain power grids between 2010 and 2030.

A drop in the cost of solar panels and new leasing programs that offer installation with no upfront customer payments has led to a boom in U.S. rooftop systems, which have climbed more than 50 percent annually during the past three years. Utilities in some states have sought added fees from customers who generate their own power, saying the funds will support a grid to which users sell excess supply and upon which they rely when their own systems aren’t available."

Mark Chediak reports for Bloomberg April 7, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Bloomberg Pours $30 Million More Into Fighting Coal" (InsideClimate News)

"Bloomberg, Sierra Club Direct $60 Million To Closing Half Of U.S. Coal Plants By 2017" (Huffington Post)

"Michigan State University President Announces Coal Phase-Out" (Daily Climate)

"Imagining a Post-Coal Appalachia" (Atlantic)

"The Solar Business Now Employs More Americans Than Coal Mining" (Slate)

"The War On Solar Vs. The War On Coal" (CleanTechnica)

"Coal Loses Nearly 50,000 Jobs, Wind and Solar Add 79,000" (GreenTechMedia)

"Michael Bloomberg's War on Coal" (Politico)

"Mining Companies And Lobbyists Are Waging the Real War on Coal" (Quartz)