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Finance committee discusses whether solar customers should share more utility infrastructure costs
Summary
The council's budget and finance committee began work on 2025 electric utility rates, examining options for ensuring solar customers contribute fairly to fixed infrastructure costs and discussing the role of demand meters for large users.
The Baldwin City budget and finance committee reported preliminary work on 2025 electric utility rates, focusing on how distributed solar customers contribute to fixed infrastructure and whether demand meters for large users should be retained.
Speaker 3, reporting for Finance and Budget, said the committee discussed that under the city's net-zero policy some solar customers may pay little or nothing toward utility costs while the grid and infrastructure must still be maintained. "Is there a fair way to have solar customers pay more of that infrastructure operating cost?" Speaker 3 asked, noting meter fees are currently uniform and that the city is exploring rate formats that separate debt or capacity charges.
The committee also reviewed demand meters used with large customers, such as the school district and Baker, and discussed pros and cons: demand-based charges can incentivize large users to keep peak demand low, which reduces the city's required capacity build. The committee will continue developing rate options and may present drafts at future meetings.
