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Clean Energy Connection subscribers can earn monthly bill credits for solar energy generated by participation, without installing solar panels
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy has made proposals to the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina to help customers in both states to receive the benefits of solar energy without the commitment and expense of installing and maintaining rooftop panels. The company's new proposed Clean Energy Connection (CEC) program is designed to allow customers to subscribe to new, utility-owned solar energy facilities, pay a monthly subscription fee and receive a bill credit for solar produced, at no extra cost to non-participating customers.
If approved, the CEC program will be available to large commercial customers, small- and medium-sized business customers and residential customers in the Carolinas. The program was filed with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina in late December 2024 and with the North Carolina Utilities Commission in early January 2025.
The CEC program builds upon years of stakeholder engagement that yielded an expansion of program options for customers to have access to solar in the Carolinas, including the recently approved Green Source Advantage (GSA) Choice in North Carolina and Renewable Choice, Clean Energy Impact and expansion of GSA in South Carolina. These programs were developed after extensive conversations with customers, and other key stakeholders to learn more about what is needed for customers to achieve their carbon and sustainability goals.
"Employers and economic development prospects look to Duke Energy to help them reach their sustainability goals in ways that fit their individual needs," said Meghan Dewey, vice president of products and services for Duke Energy. "The proposed Clean Energy Connection program helps us meet those needs by expanding opportunities for customers to subscribe to renewable energy right here in the Carolinas."
How the Clean Energy Connection program works
The program leverages competitively procured solar necessary for the system. Customers may subscribe to a portion of that solar energy from Duke Energy's CEC solar portfolio in 1-kilowatt (kW) increment subscriptions associated with the program's solar facilities. The monthly subscription fee is conveniently added to a customer's regular electric bill.
Customers also receive a corresponding subscription credit that represents their share of energy produced by the solar centers in a given month, multiplied by the subscription credit rate, which begins to escalate annually after three continuous years of subscription in the program. Participating customers will also have the rights to the environmental benefits of that renewable energy without directly owning the generating facility, and these benefits can be used to help achieve their own environmental and sustainability goals.