Monday, 27 May 2013

How To Sell Electricity To Your Local Power Utility Company

By Frances Keith


Selling power back to the grid can be a sure way to pull in some extra income. With your small power station, you won't have to pay any electricity bills. Below, top tips and hints on how to sell electricity to the grid are outlined.

The first thing you must consider is whether this investment is economically viable. If you intend to use wind turbines, the area you are installing the same must have enough wind energy. Setting up a power plant is an expensive affair; you want to be sure that you've made the right choices.

You may want to consider using a broker or an agent. In many countries, selling directly to your local utility provider may be problematic or even impossible. Employing services of a broker can help you surpass this hurdle. Basically, the broker is responsible for selling the electricity to the grid.

There are several government initiative meant to encourage such investments, you might want to take advantage of such arrangements. Most states want local power firms producing clean energy. In fact, there is legislation in certain states that will require the power utility firms to generate a certain percentage of power from renewable sources such as solar and wind. This is where private generators come in.

Setting up a small power station is work meant to be done by a professional. You will need to contact a skilled electrical engineer to assist you with installation. You also need to marshal funds for the project. Typically, you may require at least $50K to fund the project.

It's also advisable to have an idea of laws affecting this business. For instance, there is the "net metering laws". In most states, power utility firms are supposed to buy power at the same rate they sell to their customers.

Communication with your local utility company is vital. You will need to approach the power utility firm you intend to sell to and have a serious talk on how best to go through with the process. Basically, they will advice on what is required, standards etc. In essence, it's just like when doing business with a customer; communication must be maintained at all levels. Making assumptions based on what you've heard or read is never wise.

If there is any advice you need to take from this piece is doing research. You need to do a lot of reading before venturing into this form of business. Any savvy business person will tell you to have a good business; lots of research is necessary. Checking out a few sources online, reading a few books talking to people who are in this business are all part of research. Doing research helps you identify how to sell electricity to the grid.




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