Have you spent much time with your electricity bill lately? While your first instinct might be to shudder and toss the thing into the trash, next time your bill arrives, take a closer look. Your bill will likely show you a graph of how much energy your household has been using over the last month, and probably even the last year. It may be time to start talking with a solar installer.
With summer now behind us, you may feel comforted knowing that you don’t have to pay for another August electricity bill for another 12 months, but here’s something to think about—what you pay next August for energy will likely be more than you paid this year, even if your energy use doesn’t change.
Energy costs on the rise? You need the best solar installer to help lower your bill.
If it has seemed to you like your energy bill has been getting bigger, you’re not dreaming. Over the last ten years, the average energy price nationwide has risen about 15%. What’s more alarming is that according to the Institute for Energy Research, between 2000 and 2014, energy rates in Colorado jumped an astounding 67%!
In 2001, rates were just 7.47 cents per kilowatt hour and in 2014 were 12.18 cents per kilowatt hour. That trend has continued—X-Cel Energy, the state’s largest energy company, increased rates in 2017, and just earlier this year announced their plans to raise 2020 rates by another 6.5%.
While the difference between 7 cents and 12 cents might not seem like much, these numbers really add up over time. If you could compare your energy bill from today to your energy bill from 10 or 15 years ago, you’d see a big difference.
For example, let’s say you used 1200 killowats of energy during a month and your bill was $100. If your rates were to rise by only 3.5% a year (a low estimate), in 20 years your cost for the same amount of energy would have more than doubled, rising from $100 to $236. Slow and steady, but rising all the same.
And that trend isn’t stopping—The Energy Information Agency, estimates that between now and 2040, energy prices will continue to rise in both the short and long term, which means 20 years from now you’ll be looking back, wishing your energy rates were what they were in 2020.
How does solar fit in?
While energy prices are rising, Forbes magazine reported this year that the cost of going solar is continuing to drop. From more efficient solar panel manufacturing to the rise of more experienced solar installers, the price of residential solar installation has never been lower!
To also help defray the cost of solar installation, the US Congress extended the federal solar tax credit through the end of 2019. That means that any solar installation projects started before December 31, 2019 will receive a 30% tax credit for the price of their panels and installation.
What’s more—after the initial expense of purchasing and installing solar panels, the price of solar energy production is essentially zero. Solar customers essentially swap their energy bills for the price of their solar panels, and after the panels are paid in full (either up front or financed over a period of years), their payments disappear completely.
This means, that for the long term, solar owners will have stable, fixed “energy” payments until their panels are paid in full, effectively removing themselves from the inevitable rising cost of electricity.
Finding the best residential solar company near you
If you live in Southern Colorado, we invite you to connect with us. As the region’s top residential solar installer in Pueblo, we would love to meet you and help you find out if going solar would be right for you.
We’re proud to be the #1 residential solar company in Pueblo County and beyond. Together, we can help you run the numbers to see how going solar would help you save money long term by cutting your strings to the rising costs of accessing electricity from the grid. Installing residential solar panels will help you take charge of your family’s energy production.
Contact us today to set up a free, in-home consultation with one of our representatives to see how going solar can benefit you and your family.
