While most of us are sweltering in the heat – and more importantly sweating what our next electric bill will look like – Grady & Jenny Hill are actually making money. In fact they have not paid a bill since 2009 thanks to a combination of solar panels, designed efficiencies in their home, and participation in an energy buy-back program.
According to a Chronicle profile:
[Grady] keeps his thermostat set at a comfortable 78 degrees when he’s home, but a combination of solar panels and an energy-efficient home have helped him make more power than he uses for most of the year.
That excess power goes to his electric company, Green Mountain Energy, which gives him credits that he taps during the summer months, when he tends to use more than he generates. He earns credits at the same rate he pays, 12.915 cents per kilowatt hour, for the first 500 kwh he generates. Green Mountain buys the rest for half that rate.
At the end of June, when his 3,200-square-foot home used 522 kwh, he had a credit balance of $288.82.
