Gainesville Regional Utilities - Solar Feed-In Tariff

Summary

NOTE: This program has been suspended for the 2014 calendar year.

Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU), a municipal utility owned by the City of Gainesville, offers a solar feed-in tariff (FIT) for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Modeled on Germany's FIT, GRU purchases energy from qualified PV systems via a standard offer contract at predetermined rates for a period of 20 years, plus the remaining balance of the calendar year in which the contract is executed. Both residential and commercial generators are eligible. Commercial generators can either enter into a FIT agreement or net meter. Residential customers with PV systems less than 10 kilowatts (kW) have the option to enter into a FIT agreement and sell 100% of their electricity to GRU, or to net meter and only send the excess electricity to GRU under the terms established for that program. For those residential customers who choose to net meter, GRU offers a rebate to those who qualify. Any system that has previously received a solar PV rebate, entered into a net metering agreement or been financed with a Low Interest Energy Efficiency Loan from GRU is not eligible.

For contracts executed in 2013, the fixed rate for the life of the contract are $0.21/kWh, $0.18/kWh or $0.15/kWh (depending on size and application). There are separate rates for rooftop- or pavement-mounted systems or ground-mounted systems. A total capacity of 2.53 MW is available for 2013 contracts, of which 200 kW is reserved for residential solar projects.

For contracts executed in 2013, the rates are as follows:

• All systems 10 kW or less: $0.21/kWh
• Building- or pavement-mounted systems between 10 and 300 kW: $0.18/kWh
• Ground-mounted systems between 10 and 25 kW: $0.18/kWh
• Ground-mounted systems between 25 and 1,000 kW: $0.15/kWh

If the amount of capacity requested during current application period exceeds the amount of available capacity, a third party will select projects by a random drawing. If the full capacity is not requested during the specified application period, then applications will be accepted until capacity is met. All renewable energy credits (RECs) associated with customer generation belong to the utility.

Application information and required documentation can be found on the GRU solar feed-in-tariff website.

*For contracts executed in 2012, the fixed rate for the life of the contract started at $0.24/kWh, $0.22/kWh or $0.19/kWh (depending on size and application) and decreased over time.