[monkeyshine]

I will repeat this story over and over because it makes me angry: We switched our business from gas to electric generators two years ago. This state produces so much solar energy that during the day there is an excess - they have to dump it off. Peak hours are from 4 pm to 9 pm. We don’t use energy during those hours. Out of nowhere the utilities commission decided to charge me a “surcharge” when I turn on one of the generators. What was a $400 bill - and still is a $400 bill - has a $1600 “spike usage surcharge” because we have to run these generators for a few hours a month.

Same amount of energy we had been using for years. But because it isn’t steady use, they gouge us for drawing a lot for short bursts during random occurrences. Again, the total amount of KwH used has been steady month over month on average but when I kick on the 480 Amp generator they kick me in the rucksack. And in a way I get it - use more pay more; and they planned on dumping the extra electricity. But the other side of that coin is that the electricity is basically free to them. They literally dump it off during the day because there is so much more solar generation during the day than the state actually uses.

I am thinking I should make some youtube videos - go visit Edison, go visit the County Supervisor, go visit my Congressman etc. I am “doing what they said I should do”, got off carbon, and they cream me for it. If I went back to gas it would pay for itself in under 2 years at this rate.

[Brian Griffin]

https://climatebiz.com/tesla-powerwall-alternatives/

You might be able to offer your customers low-energy use/lower cost ‘specials’ or simply close early.

[Tell It Right]

Do your inverters have the option to not put excess power onto the grid? Because Alabama has never been a "net metering" state, when I chose to get inverters I chose ones that have the feature called "no output" or "zero report". Thus for most of the time I've had solar, I haven't put power onto the grid and the power utility didn't charge me any extra fees. They treated me as a normal power customer like everybody else, only that I needed a lot less power than most people.

Only after having solar for a while and studying over a year's worth of telemetry after I did the upgrade, did I determine that I'd make a little bit more from selling power to the grid than I pay in extra fees. If that ever changes, I cancel my grid sell contract, change a few configurations in my inverters, and quit putting power onto the grid like before.

[Scrambler Bob]

when I kick on the 480 Amp generator
= = =

I am not familiar with an electric generator, a 480 amp generator.

What is it? I know a gasoline or nat gas generator.