When installing Solar Arrays in Chesterfield County is discussed, one has to ask a simple question: “Why isn’t Duke Energy the company that is building the Solar Arrays Project?” Do they know something that they do not want us to know?
Up till about three years ago, Duke Energy did own solar array fields. Here is an announcement about the four arrays they were going to build. Duke Energy Florida announces 4 new solar sites | Duke Energy | News Center (duke-energy.com)
More research found that Duke was also building arrays in North Carolina that they would use to sell energy to themselves. With 2 new solar projects, Duke Energy will sell electricity to itself | WFAE 90.7 – Charlotte’s NPR News Source
The fact is Duke Energy owned a lot of solar arrays back in 2021, as this article will explain to you. Duke Energy Sees Renewable Energy Growing To 23% By 2030 | WFAE 90.7 – Charlotte’s NPR News Source
As I dug deeper into Duke Energy’s investment in Solar Power, I found something that initially didn’t make much sense. Still, it could very well answer why Duke has not invested directly in the solar arrays in Chesterfield County.
In March 2023, Duke Energy announced that it had started operating the largest solar array field ever. Duke Energy began operating its largest solar plant. This plant would produce 250 megawatts of power, of which 102 megawatts had already been contracted for purchase by Charles River Laboratories International Inc. Then something unexpected happened: Duke sold the whole thing.
In June 2023, Duke announced that it had contracted to sell this plant to Brookfield Renewable. They also announced that they were selling their unit, which provides rooftop solar arrays for businesses. Duke Energy to sell its commercial solar and wind farms for $2.8B. So I asked myself a question: why would you build a vast solar plant only to sell it three months after you bring it online? Well, I think I know why now, and it involves the terms “Regulated and Unregulated Power Generation.”
Duke Energy is a regulated public utility; the rates it can charge its customers are determined by each state it operates in. For us, that would be the Public Service Commission of South Carolina. If Duke wants to increase its rates, it must go to the commission, state its case, and justify the increase. The most common reason is a simple one: the cost of producing electricity has increased. This increase could be due to fuel costs or capital investments. But what about unregulated power generation? How does that work?
If you are an unregulated power producer, you can charge whatever you want for the electricity you produce. This is the free market approach to electrical production. But just like any free market business, it has its ups and downs, something a regulated producer doesn’t have to worry about. So, how does this relate to solar arrays in Chesterfield County? Simply put, the companies installing solar arrays in the county are unregulated and, therefore, subject to pricing pressures from other electricity producers.
The companies building solar arrays in the county are LLCs, which stands for Limited Liability Corporations. These types of companies are formed to reduce their owners’ exposure to possible bankruptcy losses. It would also protect itself if the cost of operating the solar arrays in the county exceeded the revenues it made from producing power from the solar cells. They can walk away without removing or disposing of the solar arrays. This would leave those who own the land to deal with the consequences of disposing of the solar panels. Don’t think it can happen? Well, it already is.
Do you get those marketing calls from companies that want you to install solar panels on the roof of your house? They tell you how much money you are going to save and that you could possibly make money selling excess electricity to the local utility. Well, don’t fall for it. It is a scam, and the chickens, in this case, are coming home to roost.
You might want to read an article about the solar companies that have gone bankrupt: The Complete List of Solar Bankruptcies and Business Closures. Over 100 solar companies have gone bankrupt, and the list grows weekly. There are many reasons, but all of them can be distilled down to one: they can’t make money! This is the simple answer: you can’t make money by generating electricity from solar power.
Right now, the meltdown is in the solar rooftop portion of the industry. The liberal magazine Time has an excellent article titled “The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be on the Verge of Collapse.” But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Major utilities are trying to protect themselves from taking a financial beating while trying to show how “green” they want to become. This is the only reason why they want to have regulated solar projects. This is the only reason they want nothing to do with the unregulated electricity-producing market. It is why they talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
The last thing Chesterfield County needs is to be saddled with abandoned solar array fields. The landowners will never be able to have them removed and disposed of. The county will be stuck trying to do something to remove them since, over time, they will present a situation that will be a danger to all of us. The Chesterfield County Council must place a moratorium on new solar array projects. The small financial benefit these projects might produce now can never outweigh the likely prospect of bankruptcy for the companies that own them.