Like planting a tree, the best time to go solar is 20 years ago; the second best time is today.
The cost of doing nothing.
Utah power has gone up 4% year-over-year for the past decade and a half. That may not sound like a lot, but that means the average Utah homeowner will spend over $90,000 on electricity over the next 25 years — and that’s all assuming that energy cost increases remain at that low 4% average.
The energy supply is changing.
Rocky Mountain Power will be taking their natural gas peaker plants offline in 2025. When PG&E did that in California, rates doubled over five years. Utah power rates track California power rates, just a few years behind. Currently, Californians pay triple for power what Utahans do, but as bad as things are getting in California, that gap is closing fast. Rocky is building in 18,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2040, which will invert the energy supply and quadruple the wholesale cost of power. As a regulated utility Rocky’s profits are fixed at 8.5%, meaning they will simply pass these incredible cost increases on to the customer.
What does solar + battery do for my future costs?
Sized appropriately, solar + battery can fix in-place 85-95% of your electrical energy costs for the next 30-40 years. (In contrast, solar without battery can fix 25-30% of your electric cost.)
What would you do right now if the price of gasoline doubled? How about milk? That’s the difference we’re talking about. Utah electricity costs are set to start doubling after 2025, when Rocky Mountain Power takes their gas-fired peaker plants offline.
What about my ROI?
If you don’t include equity, your ROI on solar + battery, under a business-as-usual scenario (not figuring-in a doubling of electricity after 2025, see above) averages around 12-15 years. (You can compare that to an 8-year ROI for a riskier investment like the S&P 500. For a similarly safe investment like a CD, you’re looking at a 20-year ROI.)
Most people do not go solar for ROI. The reason being: there is no ROI on your power bill!
When it comes to looking into any “return” on the dollar-investment in solar + battery, most folks are simply happy to buy their next 40 years of electricity with today’s dollars.