I just installed a rooftop solar system, which I could only justify financially by installing it myself.
If you have ever thought about doing the same in Clallam County, you would probably conclude that it is not worth it.
A $40,000 system, after a 26 percent tax credit, will take 33 years to pay for itself.
By then, your system is obsolete.
If you lived in Jefferson County, where even window replacement rebates are better, you’d find the payoff at 28 years and 24 years in Seattle.
California power rates are so high, the payoff is only 10 years.
The reason for these long payoffs in Clallam is the gradual realignment of our power bills toward higher basic charges that we all pay equally. Currently, they are $40 per month and slated to climb to $57 per month by 2028.
This artificially holds down the electric rate to a low $.0778 per kWH, which is a disincentive to solar production and conservation, and it increases the total bills of the lowest power users the most.
This is being done to “align fixed and variable costs.”
It sounds like our public utility district is run by accountants rather than the commissioners.
It is time for a change. Stop and reverse the realignment of our power bills.
Let’s elect a real leader who understands how to incentivize solar and conservation.
Vote for Ken Hays for Clallam County Public Utility District commissioner.
Stu Marcy
Sequim