In the Sun City -- where Old Sol shines longer and stronger than almost anywhere else in the country -- powering a home with utility-connected solar panels makes no financial sense.

That's what about 40 residential customers are finding out, most after installing expensive equipment on their homes. Idealism partly motivated the investments -- a belief it would improve the nation's energy security and air quality. They also wanted to significantly lower or eliminate their electric bills.


Then last summer, El Paso Electric changed the way it buys and sells energy from residential solar homes based on a new law and a public utility commission ruling. Now some of those homeowners are finding that monthly interest on loans used to buy the equipment is greater than energy-bill savings.

"We don't do these things without studying," said Robert Moss, one of the first El Pasoans to install a solar system that can put energy back into the utility grid. "We did this because we wanted to be pioneers and demonstrate that it could be done economically."

Moss, who kept detailed records of the power used by his family, which includes his wife and three teenagers, ran the numbers and thought he could pay off the equipment in about 18 years. After the changes, he is paying about $750 more annually for electricity, which has extended his payoff to more than 40 years, he said, "not including inflation."

Moss and other solar adopters do not see themselves as commercial energy generators,
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although the recent changes have boiled it down to that.
 
"I'm not really intending to sell back; I'm intending to bank it up," Moss said. Under the old rules, he used surplus electricity generated during the day at night and on cloudy days when the panels do not produce. He sized the system so he would end up paying a small amount to the utility company when averaged over a year.
Standing at the side of his home, he points to a special electric meter that runs both ways and explains the problem.

Under old rules, a kilowatt-hour coming in during the monthly billing period was worth the same as a kilowatt-hour going out. At the end of each month, the account would be settled to find who owed whom. Most systems were designed like Moss' so the home would use a small amount of utility-produced electricity annually.

The utility paid low wholesale prices for energy it received from solar residences and sold it at retail, the same price everyone else pays. Currently, those prices are about 2.7 cents for a wholesale kilowatt-hour and 12.5 cents for a retail kilowatt-hour. The process was called "net metering." Under the new law, something called "instantaneous metering" was created. Now, the kilowatt-hours are valued differently throughout the monthly billing period. For every kilowatt-hour Moss' home produces, he is paid the wholesale price. He is charged retail for every kilowatt-hour he uses. His bill has increased significantly. "They depreciated my energy," Moss said.

Lawmakers changed the rules to support solar power in most of Texas, which operates under different conditions, said Marty Howell, the city of El Paso's sustainability manager. It did not take into account the situation in El Paso, which required the Public Utility Commission of Texas ruling that was the basis of the new billing approach.

Moss and others say the electric company could have created a more solar-friendly billing structure. But the company submitted a proposal that would have kept the old system in place and was told it violated the law, said Richard Fleager, a senior vice president at El Paso Electric.

The changes come when Texas is importing more energy than it produces, according to the State Energy Conservation Office's "Texas Renewable Energy Resource Assessment."

"The demand for electricity, encompassing all sectors, is growing faster than any other type of energy consumption," it states. "Texas' large, yet underutilized supply of renewable energy resources will make up a larger percentage of our total energy supplies in the future."

The report states that solar energy technically "could meet all future Texas energy demands." But there are limitations. Large solar generating stations, with rows of photovoltaic panels, take significant amounts of land, and those locations often are not connected to the power grid that supplies homes and businesses.
Residential solar installations such as Moss' can solve both those problems. Panels normally are installed on roofs, eliminating the need for large amounts of land. And they are connected to the grid, which eliminates the need to build power lines.

Locally, rebates for people who bought panels kindled interest in solar, said Larry Perea, who owns Solar Smart Living, an El Paso renewable energy company. Now Perea's website has a warning that changes in the law "in many cases eliminate the benefit of installing solar electric systems on a residence."

"The numbers just don't work for them," Perea said. "The residential solar side of El Paso is pretty much dead."

Some anger arose when El Paso Electric took about six months to structure new billing methods. Moss found out about the changes when he viewed an online version of his bill.

The electric company said it was not responsible for what installers like Perea told their customers. Perea said he found out about the changes recently when the power company posted the information on its website.

"We didn't communicate with them effectively," Fleager said. "The communication clearly can be improved."
Nonetheless, El Paso Electric is working with the city to craft a bill creating a special arrange ment for the El Paso area that would reinstate some form of the old "net metering" approach.

Details are being worked out, but Howell said he is optimistic the measure will be considered by the Texas Legislature before the current session ends. All members of the El Paso legislative delegation have said they would support it, Howell said, and because it affects only this area, it is unlikely to face opposition.
Despite the confusion, most people say they want solar to succeed. The first rebate programs were successful, drawing interest that might be sustained if the problem is worked out.

"We don't want 40 people with residential solar," Howell said. "We want 400 and then 4,000."

Chris Roberts may be reached at chrisr@elpasotimes.com; 546-6136.