SWITCH Open Meeting - January 2017 - David Flett

Managing energy costs—making it less complicated for people to understand renewable energy.

Over the past three years, people have seen electricity bills go up, but many haven’t known what can be done about it. I show them how. By beginning with the lowest cost investment in solar air heating or solar water heating, they can achieve measurable savings.

If the homeowner is looking to make larger savings, the return on investment can be substantial by using a hybrid of different renewable energy systems. Each homeowner or small business situation is different. I will give some actual examples.

As the price of electricity in Ontario goes up and the cost of micro-generation drops, we approach grid parity. Net Metering becomes a real opportunity for homeowners and businesses. Under the Ministry of Energy's Long Term Plan, homeowners and businesses who invest in 'owner micro generation' with a net metering license will be able to redirect their monthly hydro bill towards paying down the cost of the system over 15 to 20 years.