Pembina reacts to Alberta Government solar funding program

EDMONTON — Binnu Jeyakumar, Program Director of Electricity at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the Government of Alberta’s solar program announcement:

“The Pembina Institute welcomes the Government of Alberta’s program to provide support to small-scale solar projects. This incentive program will provide a rebate of $0.75 per watt and make it easier for a wide range of Albertans to participate in clean energy generation: individuals, co-operatives, community associations, non-profit organizations, and businesses.

“The program will benefit not only the people and groups who invest in solar energy, but all Albertans by lowering their electricity bills. Given today’s generation mix, solar energy will help lower electricity costs by providing power during periods of peak demand.

“While this rebate program is critical to substantively kick starting the solar industry in Alberta, the current electricity market does not reflect the fair value of solar and its services to the grid and rate-payers. A fairly simple approximation of the fair value of solar for Alberta in the medium term would be to replace the current net billing system with a net metering system.”

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