National Grid to Provide One-Stop Solar Shopping For Rhode Island Customers
3BL Media, March 8, 2016. Image credit: Hans
Rhode Island electric customers of National Grid will soon have a convenient online tool to use in researching and purchasing solar energy systems for their homes and businesses. Thanks to action taken by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, National Grid will be the first electric utility company in the country to offer its customers a simplified process to research and purchase photovoltaic equipment and earn bonus solar incentives based on their energy reductions. The new program is called SolarWise Rhode Island and is part of National Grid’s 2016 Rhode Island Renewable Energy (RE) Growth Program. It will be launched in the early spring.
To deliver the SolarWise program National Grid is collaborating with EnergySage, the nation’s leading online marketplace for solar, to create the SolarWise Marketplace. Through this Marketplace, customers will be able to comparison-shop solar opportunities for their home or business and receive competitive quotes from pre-screened installers. Customers can then evaluate their multiple options to select an installer and solar financing package that best suits their needs. Owners of existing structures and those planning new construction will both be eligible to participate.
Under the new program, Rhode Island customers may also be eligible for a bonus solar incentive if they take steps to reduce their energy consumption before installing a solar photo voltaic system. To qualify for the SolarWise Bonus, a customer must go through the National Grid Energy Efficiency Program and have an energy assessment of their home or business. The assessment will recommend steps a customer may take to reduce energy consumption. Depending on the number of energy saving measures a customer takes, they may be eligible for a higher long-term payment for their solar system’s output. The more steps a customer takes to reduce their energy consumption, the greater the solar incentive they can earn. SolarWise Rhode Island will be launched later this spring.