Is it true that if you produce electricity that the electrical company has to pay you for any excess produced?

Question

If so, how much? I'm thinking of moving and buying with enough property to put up some wind mills. Any advice on how to calculate costs and profit would be helpful.

Answer 1

Many local utility companies are now just getting things setup for paying for electricity supplied by individuals.  My suggestion is to call the local electricity supplier for the grid in your new area and find out what they pay per kwh.  Now workout what the type and size windmill units you are thinking of using produce and then workout what it pays.  Take your current electrical usage as a base line for the difference between income and usage costs.

Some companies like you to give them all your production and keep buying from them.  So they buy for example at 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour and you pay for their supplied at 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Now add to their price the cost of transmission and all the other add-on costs associated that appear on your electricity bill and the difference per kwh is quite a bit.  Each company pays different rates but you get the idea.  There are some paying higher rates so you'll have to adjust accordingly.  Remember to factor in your costs for equipment factored over the expected lifetime of it so you can see if this is going to make enough to pay for the equipment and the expected repairs later on.

One of my old customers had both a windmill and a solar system producing electricity with a battery storage so he was not hooked into the grid at all and just produced for himself.  He also utilized a geothermal system for home heating and a wood burning stove for supplemental heating in the winter.  So he was totally off utilizing fossil fuels for heat and power.