Jay NE Ohio - 11/18/2018 14:35

Thanks again for the info.

My township entered into an aggregation agreement with First Energy 3 years ago. They locked the rate at 5.3 cents and the township received about $100,000 "sign on bonus". This agreement expires next month, but they have already signed up for the next 3 years at 5.0 cents with no "bonus" (I think they could have received about $50,000 if they locked at 5.15 cents). The original bonus was used for various improvements in the township that benefited everyone, but the new trustees felt it would be better to take the lower rate this time, which again benefits everyone.

We are very close to the Ohio River where there are several power plants (coal and nuclear). Some of these are "scheduled" to be shut down in 10 years unless they get some sort of waiver from the government to continue. The waiver will likely depend on which political party is in control at the time......

We are also in the middle of the Utica shale natural gas area. There is a LOT of cheap natural gas here. A brand new gas powered electric plant was built about 20 miles south of me last year and another will be built 20 miles east of me next year. These plants have locked in long term contracts for cheap gas and the electric should stay competitive to coal and nuclear for the foreseeable future.

I am close to Pennsylvania and have seen a huge number of solar installations across the border even though their electric rates are similar to ours. The driving force is the subsidy that the state of PA has paid...... Ohio does not have the subsidy and has not seen much happening with solar.

If the payback is there (less than 10 years), I would consider an installation on my dairy barn roof. But if we are looking at a 15 year payback on something that has a life expectancy of 25 years, my enthusiasm goes down significantly.

Thanks again for sharing.