If the State Corporation Commission approves two Dominion Virginia Power filings for rate increases, residential rates will go up almost six percent for some 2.4 million customers, starting September 1.
The bulk of that rate hike – 4.1% – would be to cover spiking natural gas and purchased electricity prices the utility paid to power homes during the record cold first months of this year. Another 1.7% is for increased transmission charges.
“When the price of natural gas goes up, customers get stuck with the bill,” Glen Besa, director of the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter told the Richmond Times Dispatch.
But there’s a way to avoid what he called “gambling with their customers’ money with overreliance on natural gas.”
“There are no fuel rate adjustments with solar and wind power, because the fuel is free,” he said.
In Virginia, that “free fuel” is plentiful. Virginia enjoys more than 200 days with sunlight each year.
For the other 165 days, a Milestone Solar system with battery backup bank can store up enough solar-powered electricity for days at a time. (Which comes in very handy during outages.)
As a result, if you live in Virginia, instead of paying 5.8% more for electricity starting September, you can start paying up to 50% less, as most Milestone Solar customers report they do.
You’ll save even more with a 30% federal tax credit plus $1,000 or more with state and local incentives.
So why not get a free solar evaluation? It’s the first step in beating electricity rate increases – not only for this September, but for years and years to come.
