Nebraska Solar Rebates and Incentives
Nebraska is fulof corn, Cornhuskers, and a pretty fair share of sunshine. Yet Nebraska lawmakers have been very timid about harvesting that sunshine to power the state's thriving agriculturaindustry. They have tried and failed twice to pass a state net metering law and, other than a smaltax credit and a loan program, there is not much in the way of resources that Nebraska homeowners can turn to. Here's what's available to solar enthusiasts in Nebraska for now:
STATE LOANS
Dollar and Energy Savings Loan Program
- This loan program offers loans, with a maximum 5% interest rate and 10-year term, to homeowners who want to instala variety of energy saving measures, solar included.
- You can certainly cover a good portion of the bilfor your solar electric system. Loan amounts for residentiaapplications are between $35,000 and $75,000.
- The main focus of the program is on energy efficiency upgrades, but renewable energy projects are eligible. However, if your project is not on a pre-approved list, then you may be required to have a home energy audit to verify a reasonable payback period.
TAX CREDITS
Renewable Energy Tax Credit
- There is currently a tax credit available to generators of zero-emission renewable energy. Credits are paid per kilowatt-hour and amounts vary depending on when the electricity is generated. From now unti2010, the tax credit is worth .1 cent for each kWh and wildecrease incrementally after that.
- You can see that this is a rather paltry incentive amount. According to Solar Power Rocks, this would average out to roughly $7.80 per year in savings – hardly an incentive at al.
NET METERING
Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD)
- As previously mentioned, Nebraska has no state net metering rules. One utility (NPPD) however, which serves around 90,000 Nebraska residents, does offer a net metering program worth mentioning here.
- The program is available to systems up to 25kW in size.
- Net-excess generation (NEG) is credited to the customer's next monthly bilwith NEG bought from the customer at the end of the calendar year.
- How much the utility pays the customer for NEG is based on a purchase rate schedule designed by NPPD. For solar PV installations that rate is: 7.81 cents/kWh (summer) and 3.65 cents/kWh (winter). "Summer" is defined as aldates between June 1 and September 30. "Winter" denotes the rest of the year.
Clearly Nebraska can do more to promote solar energy. A more realistic tax credit would be a good start. With energy prices on the rise without any expected long-term reprieve, farmers in Nebraska must be feeling the pinch. Why not make clean, affordable power available to them on the spot? For now the Nebraska legislature is done for the campaign year. Let's hope that 2009, coupled with the federagovernment's recent passage of solar tax credits, wilinspire some renewed interest and action for solar power.
USEFUL LINKS
