Consultation on domestic electricity feed in tariff

Movement is afoot to allow home owners in Ireland to sell electricity back to the grid. Two main things are going on. Firstly a pilot scheme to fit smart meters is going on. These meters will be the physical kit required to measure electricity being exported to the grid from your home. Secondly, they have begun the methodology. A consultation is currently ongoing regarding the price and arrangements that will be in place for people who are selling electricity. All the information can be found here. If you have comments and want them passed on, please pass them on here or email them on to me. I’ll be putting together a response on behalf of this blog and pass them on.

 

The main details are…

• We currently pay 15.97c for electricity (before VAT and standing charges).
• The proposal is to pay you 9c for electricity being exported to the grid.

 

Other issues to consider (some pro, some anti)

• The government incentivises lots of things, perhaps they should do so here
• There is a recession going on and the grid is not a charity
• Domestic renewables have the effect of making normal people think about energy, leading to better efficient use of energy etc.
• Distributed power generation makes the grid stronger, and reduces the losses on the system
• Having generators everywhere is a bit dangerous, and if it goes wrong, it’s really bad PR for the green sector.
• When the wind stops blowing for the wind farms, it will also stop blowing for domestic wind turbines
• As renewables going, electrical ones are rarely the best from a CO2 abatement point of view, so excessively incentivising them is a questionable strategy.  

The Smart Grid

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