Idaho Power - Solar financing offered to customers

The Idaho Power electrical utility is proposing to construct a solar power project that would be funded by customers who take out subscriptions to guarantee it is built. Plans for the project indicate that the construction would be on land southeast of Boise and would be the state's first utility-owned solar power production facility. The area proposed receives about 4.5 sun hours and would be able to power up to 730 homes. Additional information about the project has been released to encourage residents to take subscriptions in this new service. A 500 KW site about the size of two football fields has been chosen and the project is estimated to cost 1.2 million dollars and greater than 80% will be funded by the subscriptions.

The going rate is $740 per 320 watt panel and will get a credit for a portion of the arrays output over a 25 year life span. Although the project is expected to pay back within 15 years, Idaho Power's 516,000 customers have not yet funded the project completely. This project has been specifically designed to help encourage those wanting to support the development of renewable power in the state of Idaho.

Similar projects are being considered in Oregon and Washington for their application in providing clean, affordable power at little or no cost of initial installation to the utility. Do you think this project will be successful? Would you invest in another state's clean energy if you saw a decent return? Let us know in the comments below.