‘They owe me money’: Homeowner has solar power credits, but energy company zeroed them out
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG/Gray News) - A homeowner in Iowa says his energy company has reset his credits to zero without receiving any compensation regarding his solar power.
Gary Warner’s Cedar Rapids home has 14 solar s. However, that’s one more than Alliant Energy and a private solar installer says he needs to power his home.
Now, the s are producing more energy than he uses, but Warner is not benefiting from the surplus.
Warner says he has been frustrated since installing the s roughly two years ago, as every April, his credit balance for sending Alliant Energy power is reset to zero, with no compensation.
His s create enough energy in a month to cover his entire bill, and then some.
“We actually send more electricity to Alliant than Alliant sends to us; that’s why we have a credit,” Warner said.
The credit is a carryover credit, where Alliant Energy recognizes more energy was created than used and adds an amount of money to the homeowner’s . That credit can then be used to pay for the next bill.
”I had $335 in credit,” Warner said.
But when his bill came in April, that credit was dropped back to zero.
“They just have a line saying forfeit, and your credit’s gone,” Warner said.
Since installing his s, Warner says he has lost roughly $700 of credit. It’s money he says can’t be used in other areas of his bill, like his meter rental.
“I don’t understand why the credit can’t pay for that,” Warner said.
The homeowner says he doesn’t understand the point of the company simply taking the money away.
”Why does the credit just disappear once a year and you start over? If I’ve given them more electricity than they have given me, it seems like they owe me money,” Warner said.
A representative with Alliant Energy said it’s the law when asked about Warner’s situation and questions.
Alliant Energy shared, in part, “Any unused credits must be forfeited at the end of an annual period to be consistent with the law. The best way to avoid forfeiting credits is to work with a qualified installer to ensure the system is appropriately sized for the customer’s actual energy needs.”
Warner says he just wants an explanation behind the why.
“It would be interesting if I could find out what the rationale behind that is, and like I said, maybe the rationale makes sense, and then I wouldn’t be concerned,” he said.
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