What are the categories of USBM?
- Asset Ownership
- Utility Financing
- Energy Purchase
- Customer Programs
- Hybrid Programs
What is “asset ownership” usbm?
Utility ownership of solar assets and their associated operations and maintenance (O&M).
Value to the Utility: Can result in lower or stable prices, greater market activity, and/or risk mitigation.
what is utility financing usbm?
“Utility Financing” definition – Investment in customer projects or solar companies via rate basing or solar loans.
o Value to the Utility: Allows customers to participate at decreased costs over a long period of time and can offer utilities returns on investment over a PV project’s lifetime through customer rate schedules.
what is energy purchase usbm?
“Energy Purchase” definition – Utility solar output purchases that facilitate increased competition and lower pricing through, for example, auctions and innovative procurement mechanisms.
o Value to the Utility: Can present societal benefits and help meet RPSs at lower risk. Also can enable decreased pricing for future investments.
what is customer program USBM?
“Customer Programs” definition – Utility green pricing programs and community solar projects that facilitate solar growth through customer participation.
o Value to the Utility: Increases customer participation through greater access to solar generation, enhances customer relationships, can generate greater savings on a $/W basis than other existing solar PV incentive/rebate programs.
What is hyrbid programs USBM?
“Hybrid Programs” definition – Novel combinations of the more conventional USBM arrangements defined above that are a response to contextual utility business objectives, management rationales, system needs, available opportunities, and regulatory requirements.
o Value to the Utility: Can reduce customers’ economic barrier to entry, stimulate utility cost savings, overcome competitive threats to IPPs posed by utility ownership, and minimize transaction costs as well as the regulatory review process.
