The oft-repeated story line of U.S. utilities opposing solar is an oversimplification of a complex interaction between retail electricity providers and a new energy technology. Many utilities are not opposed to solar in principle, particularly not utility-scale solar, as long as they are in on the game. In many ways, Duke Energy is a typical U.S. monopoly utility, and its service area in the U.S. South is one of regions where electricity generation was not opened in a wave of deregulation which started in the 1990s. Today Duke announced that it is contracting to have a 61 MW solar PV project built in North Carolina to supply electricity to a Google data center through its Green Source Rider Program. Cypress Creek Renewables will develop the project, and Duke will sell the electricity generated to Google under a multi-year electricity contract with a premium electricity rate. Duke notes that other customers will not pay for this project. Google was involved with both the creation of the Green Source Rider program and the choice of this specific project, and is the first customer to be served under the program. Google will see additional electricity demand due to the expansion of its Caldwell County ...Den vollständigen Artikel lesen ...