For KCP&L customers who would like to support solar energy, but are not able to purchase their own panels, KCP&L is offering a new Solar Subscription program that will help build a solar farm to increase the utility’s renewable energy production.
Last week, the Missouri Public Service Commission approved KCP&L’s plan to begin offering Missouri customers a Solar Subscription program to support a new 5-megawatt solar array that would be the size of 19 football fields. The exact location has not yet been determined, but Jeremy McNeive, a KCP&L spokesperson, said it could produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1,000 homes.
Unlike typical solar programs, this one would allow participants to be renters, homeowners and businesses in KCP&L’s Missouri territories, and pending approval from the Kansas Corporation Commission, the Kansas territory as well. Even if customers move, the KCP&L Solar Subscription can move with them if it’s within the KCP&L customer territory.
“Solar Subscription allows everyone to have renewable energy, regardless of where they live,” McNeive said. “This is a hassle-free way for everyone to support clean energy growth.”
Here’s how it will work. KCP&L customers initially sign up to say they are interested. When the subscriptions are ready for release, customers will be asked to make a one-year commitment to offset 10 to 50 percent of their current annual electricity use with solar. They will be charged a monthly flat fee that ranges from $5 to $15. The initial commitment is for one year, with the ability for customers to stay with the program at a fixed rate for up to 20 years, even though electricity rates will most likely increase over time. The solar-produced electricity will not be directly delivered to Solar Subscription homes, but it offers customers the opportunity to support solar even if they can’t afford panels, don’t own their home or don’t have a roof that would work for solar.
“Today, half the power supplied to homes and businesses by KCP&L comes from emission-free sources, and Solar Subscription will allow KCP&L to create even more reliable energy with less impact to the environment,” McNeive said.
For more information, go to KCP&L’s Solar Subscription.