Regulatory options for solar incentives offered by public utilities

Edward Kahn

Energy, 1982, vol. 7, issue 1, 113-123

Abstract: Utilities are being called upon to accelerate the adoption of residential solar energy systems by providing financial incentives. The form such incentives may take and their cost vary widely. The principal alternative mechanisms are reviewed: 1.(1) bill credits or cash payments,2.(2) interest subsidies and favorable loan terms, and3.(3) direct utility investment programs. The relative costs of these mechanisms to the rate payer and the consumer are compared. There are tests of appropriate cost to be applied by the regulators evaluating utility solar incentives. These tests will be reviewed and their application discussed. All solar incentive cost tests require estimates of the marginal cost of energy that utilities can avoid if customers adopt solar energy or reduce consumption. Noneconomic factors influencing the choice of utility solar incentive program are discussed. The principal issues are consumer protection/quality assurance, competitive impact on the solar vendors, and income distribution effects.

Date: 1982
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/036054428290069X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:7:y:1982:i:1:p:113-123

DOI: 10.1016/0360-5442(82)90069-X

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().