The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) today cleared the way for Tampa Electric Company’s (TECO) customers wanting to “go solar,” approving the utility’s optional solar energy tariff. This new offering permits electric service customers to purchase energy from a designated TECO solar energy resource to replace all or part of their monthly energy consumption.
“We found the option to be in the public interest because it expands access to solar for all,” said PSC Chairman Art Graham. “Customers can easily join and leave the program, and they benefit from the utility’s cost of solar, which is lower than rooftop or smaller scale privately owned solar.”
TECO’s approved shared solar tariff provides homeowners, renters, and businesses equal access to the economic and environmental benefits of solar energy generation regardless of the physical attributes or ownership of their home or business. For example, many customers do not have access to solar because they rent, live in multi-tenant buildings, or have roofs unable to host a solar system. Under today’s approved shared solar tariff, TECO participants would pay a Shared Solar Charge of $0.063 per kilowatt-hour for energy produced by a portion (17.5 megawatts) of the Lake Hancock solar facility, which began full operations on April 25, 2019.
However, participating customers will avoid paying the fuel cost component of their bills on the part of their consumption that comes from solar.
TECO serves about 765,000 customers in West Central Florida.
For additional information, visit floridapsc.com.
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