Yes, solar makes sense in Georgia, and you may want to hurry up and go solar to get the most benefit. If you are a customer of Georgia Power, you are eligible for net metering, a policy that compensates you for electricity produced by your solar system at the same rate that you are charged for electricity. As of the date of this blog, Georgia Power net metering is capped at 5,000 households or 32 Megawatts of power, whichever comes first. Currently, there are already 1,597 customers signed up for net metering, producing a total of 6,477 Megawatts of power. After the net metering cap is reached, new solar customers will only be compensated at Georgia Power’s export rate, which is just $0.03 per kilowatt-hour.
Net metering makes solar make sense in Georgia
Net metering compensates you at a one-to-one credit based on the amount of power you supply to the grid, minus the amount of power you use from the grid. As mentioned above, Georgia Power capped the number of customers it’s offering net metering to at 5,000 customers or 32 Megawatts of power supplied to the grid, whichever comes first.
Georgia Power isn’t the only utility company in Georgia. There are over 90 Georgia Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs). These utilities are member-owned not-for-profit utility companies that serve approximately 4.4 million of Georgia’s 10 million residents. These utilities set their own policies for net metering compensation.
Georgia Electric Membership Corporation and net metering
Most of Georgia’s Electric Membership Corporations (EMC) offer net metering as of this writing. However, each of the EMCs sets its own policies, there are no regulations in Georgia that require the EMCs to offer net metering. That means if you are a customer of one of Georgia’s EMCs, that utility can change its net metering policy at any time. Additionally, most of Georgia’s EMCs have capped net metering at 0.2% of the cooperative’s peak demand from the previous year. If you are a customer of a Georgia EMC and you are wondering if net metering will be available to you, check with your EMC to find out what their net metering availability is. Freedom Forever’s family of independent authorized dealers can also help you find out about net metering in your area as well.
Georgia EMC photovoltaic rebates
Currently, Central Georgia EMC and Jacksonville EMC offer rebates of $0.45 per kilowatt AC (up to 10 kilowatts of installed system size) of installed solar capacity to their customers. This rebate reduces the cost of installing your solar system and is paid directly to you 45 days after your solar system is first switched on. This means that if you built a system that had a capacity of 5 kilowatts, you’d receive a rebate of $2,250.
If you want to qualify for the Georgia EMC rebate* your solar system must be in operation by June 31st, 2021
It takes time to build a solar system and then get approval from Georgia’s EMCs to place it in operation. Because of that, if you want to make sure you get the EMC rebate you should get your solar system installed as soon as possible.
Freedom Forever’s Georgia service area
Freedom Forever currently serves the greater Greenville, Atlanta, and Charleston areas. If you live in one of those cities or their surrounding suburbs, you can go solar with Freedom Forever and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with our 25-year production guarantee. Freedom Forever guarantees that the solar system will produce the electricity promised with our 25-Year Production Guarantee. We will even pay you for any shortfall from our fault.
Ready to go solar? Call us at 800-685-1850 or click below to get started
*The individual utility may stop or change the rebate program at any time. Rebate is pending eligibility and available funds. Please contact your utility for the most accurate information.