Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Ames to change solar buyback, boost rebate and double program cap after URAB review
Summary
The Ames City Council approved a URAB‑backed change to the city’s retail solar program: increase the upfront rebate to $500 per kilowatt, tie excess‑energy buyback to the city’s purchase cost (about 3.5¢/kWh estimated), grandfather existing solar owners, and raise the program cap from 2,000 kW to 4,000 kW.
The Ames City Council on Tuesday approved changes to the city’s retail rooftop solar program that will raise an upfront rebate and change how the utility purchases excess energy.
Under the adopted approach, the city will raise its per‑kilowatt rebate to $500 and tie the buyback rate for exported energy to the utility’s cost of purchased power rather than the higher retail rate. Staff estimated that change would set the buyback at roughly 3.5 cents per kilowatt‑hour, down from the approximately 6.5 cents…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
