As solar power gets cheaper, Austin Energy gains the OK to buy $525M more of it

[jpak]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2014/04/01/as-solar-power-gets-cheaper-austin-energy-gains.html

A $525 million contract with SunEdison – called one of the "cheapest" solar energy deals ever signed – slipped quietly through City Council on the consent agenda last week.

The deal, which was deemed among the world's cheapest by the Austin American-Statesman, will have Belmont, Calif.-based SunEdison LLC power as many as 14,000 homes from a West Texas solar facility that will come online in 2016. The deal is expected to run for up to 25 years at an annual price of $21 million. City Council has authorized the negotiation and execution of the agreement, which means the utility may be finalizing some details.

The price of about 5 cents per kilowatt-hour is much lower than the general market rate and significantly lower than the price the utility agreed to pay for a 2009 solar contract. The deal is cheaper than energy produced by natural gas when the cost of constructing a new plant is factored in, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The electricity provided is enough to power about 14,000 homes.

The contract relies on the current 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit for solar energy, which is scheduled to be reduced to 10 percent in 2016. The reduction means solar prices could rise between 2016 and 2020, city documents state.

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[TexasTowelie]

1. Making this would be profitable enough that Austin could afford to sale its stake in the lignite

power plant out in Fayette County. It's been an albatross hanging around their neck for awhile.