You open your monthly utility bill and notice that the bottom dollar amount is higher than the last billing cycle (or season). If you’re a member of a Texas electric co-op serving rural or suburban Texans, you may be feeling frustrated knowing that you should get solar panels, but want to wait until next year for prices to drop more, or technology shifts drastically. Waiting another year feels like a good financial decision on the surface. But when you understand your local utility agencies better, you’ll realize that waiting another year to go solar is really costing you money.
While you wait, you are continuing to buy increasingly expensive power with no return. You’re not just waiting for cheap solar installation prices to get here. You’re accruing compound infrastructure costs, delivery fees that will only go up, and policy changes that will outpace hardware savings any day now. Across Texas, the costs of inaction are increasing every day.
Why Are Texas Electric Co-ops & REPs Increasing Rates?
“How does electricity actually work in Texas?”
You may have wondered this when reading your monthly electricity bill. Well, your bill is composed of two large buckets. One is the wholesale price of generating the electricity, and the other is delivering that energy across physical wires. The good news is that even if generation fuel prices level out, Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Utility costs will likely only continue to increase as the physical grid in Texas is under more stress than it has ever experienced.
Suburban and rural Texas communities are growing at an astronomical rate. Local electric cooperatives are pouring money into upgrading transformers, substations, and local power lines to keep up with construction. And at the same time, large industrial farms and sprawling data centers are developing just outside major cities, pulling prodigious amounts of energy and taxing grid capacity at the neighborhood level.
Because Texas electric co-ops are run as not-for-profit cooperatives that are owned by you (its members), they do not have deep-pocketed investors to help subsidize these multi-million dollar expansions. They MUST pass these costs onto you, the consumer, through base member fees and increased delivery costs.
The Math of Waiting On Solar in Texas
“What does waiting an additional year or two on solar really cost me?”
When you do the math on how much money you lose by staying tied to your utility company, it can be a wake-up call. Let’s say you spend an average of $300/month on your electricity bill. Over the next three years, you will give your co-op over $10,000. That money is gone forever, and it does not go towards building equity in your home.
- Stay Current on Inflation: Utility rate increases have historically eclipsed the small year-over-year improvements in solar panel pricing.
- The Tax Credit Countdown: Currently, you can deduct 30% of your total solar installation costs from your federal taxes. Don’t wait too long, or you’ll miss out on these incentives.
- Know Your Net Metering Policy: Net metering and feed-back rates will likely change as more solar comes online across Texas. By getting solar today, you lock in current rates before your local utility decides to lower buyback rates.
Eliminate Your Electricity Bill in Texas Forever
By switching to solar, you change your relationship with your local electric co-op forever. Instead of being a captive consumer subject to the fluctuations of weather extremes, peak demand rate increases, and mandatory co-op fee hikes, you can change your monthly energy expense from a liability to an asset.
Imagine two Texas homeowners: Homeowner A gets solar today and locks in their electricity generation costs at a set rate, essentially eliminating most of their electric bill. Homeowner B waits three years for “cheaper prices.” During those three years, Homeowner B pays thousands in electric bills that will never be recovered.
Imagine if Homeowner B’s prices do go down by 5% three years from now. Homeowner A has already produced thousands of kWh of clean energy, and is well on his way to system pay-off and true energy independence in Texas.
Take Control of Your Whole-Home Energy Use
Solar panels aren’t a silver bullet you can simply bolt onto your roof and forget about. True energy independence in Texas starts with looking at your whole home as one energy system. To properly size a solar system, you must first make your home run as efficiently as possible under existing conditions.
It all starts with a home energy audit. By finding hidden air leaks throughout your home and ductwork, you can drastically reduce your home’s cooling costs. Many older, builder-grade AC units are gigantic energy hogs that push your electrical use through the roof during peak summer months.
By decreasing your home’s base electrical load, you won’t oversize your solar array. Instead, you can install a smaller, more efficient system that accounts for an optimized home energy load. You’ll spend less overall and improve your solar ROI.
Don’t Let Extreme Weather Cost You Time or Money
At the end of the day, relying on the grid alone leaves you vulnerable to extreme weather events and grid maintenance issues. Whether it’s a statewide heat dome that sends electricity demand through the roof or an unpredicted winter storm that leaves millions without power, your local power grid is tested year-round. If you live in a rural area that sits far from the power plant on a long distribution line, one fallen tree branch or a bad storm can knock out your power for days. Don’t get caught off-guard.
Solar batteries are the missing puzzle piece. Pairing a smart battery storage system with a quality solar array can protect you from the unpredictable. Today’s lithium iron phosphate batteries are designed to be safely cycled down well past factory specifications, kicking on automatically during an outage and powering your essential circuits with zero interruption. Coupling this technology with a smart electrical panel allows you to monitor and control your home circuit-by-circuit with a smartphone app so you can decide exactly what you want to power during an outage.
Texas Solar Professional | Don’t Wait Too Long
As your local solar expert, we understand the intricacies of cooperative billing structures, delivery fee hikes, and proper solar system sizing. Texas Solar Professional has taken a unique approach to educating homeowners on their power options. We don’t use commission-based salespeople or subcontractors. Our technicians are all W-2 employees who will help you with your energy transition from the free energy audit all the way through solar installation and past monitoring.
If you’re ready to take control of your electric bill and learn how to gain true energy independence in Texas for your home, contact us today, and let’s set up a free consultation to discuss your specific co-op bill breakdown.
FAQ
Q. Will solar completely erase my co-op electricity bill?
- While most electric co-ops have a monthly base fee just to be connected to their system, you can greatly reduce or eliminate your monthly energy consumption charges by sizing your solar array correctly and coupling it with battery backup.
Q. How do T&D rate increases impact my solar ROI?
- The more your local utility increases transmission and distribution fees, the more your solar panels are worth. Think of it this way: every kWh your panels produce is one less kWh you’ll need to buy from your co-op at a markup.
Q. Why does Texas Solar Professional recommend LiFePO4 battery storage?
- LiFePO4 batteries can safely handle higher temperatures and discharge rates, giving you peace of mind during deadly Texas summer heat waves and rare, but catastrophic winter blackouts.