Macro
Last week, I stumbled onto one of the best reminders of why I love my job. A guy I’ll call “Luke” had gone solar in Hawaii, and he was telling people online that the cost of doing so here in the PNW would exceed six figures. When I gently pointed out that these systems usually run $25K–$35K, he said I had to add on the price of a new roof, batteries, and a new EV. No matter how I tried to explain, he kept insisting that these were necessities: to Luke, this was all a single, indivisible project. He even said he couldn’t go solar in Kitsap because he couldn’t afford another electric vehicle!
After reflecting on the conversation, it occurred to me that Luke didn’t know about Washington’s net metering policies. Most utilities here credit your account kilowatt-for-kilowatt for any electricity you export to the grid–what’s commonly called “one-to-one net metering.” The grid, in effect, functions like a very large, very reliable battery that you don’t have to buy, install, or maintain. This allows Washington solar owners to bank up months’ worth of summer credit to get them through the winter.
Coming from Hawaii, Luke had very different expectations. Since 2015, Hawaiian solar installs are either credited at a sharply reduced rate or forbidden from exporting to the grid at all. Without a battery, you can’t even store midday excess for that evening, let alone save it for winter. Even with batteries, your home needs to be fully electrified to minimize the waste of anything over what is necessary to charge them. An electric vehicle charging in the daytime is exactly the kind of energy sink that a smart homeowner ought to have to avoid losing considerable value from their solar.
Luke’s thinking was actually really smart–for a Hawaii homeowner. He just hadn’t wrapped his head around the genuine gift of Washington’s net metering. Here, going solar doesn’t require a complete lifestyle reinvention. It doesn’t require a new car, a new roof (unless your roof actually needs it), full home electrification, or a bank of batteries in your garage. It just requires home ownership, grid access, and a willingness to let us take a look.
That gift, however, comes with an expiration date: PSE has exceeded the 4% threshold that allows them to change the net metering schedules, and the current schedules expired last year. That 4% threshold refers to 4% of the 1996 peak load–a figure that has no actual technical bearing on anything here 30 years later, but it’s the metric that has been used in WA’s Net Metering Law since 1998. Andy wrote about this back in 2024, and the Value of Solar study group he mentioned there has been funded and convened. Its findings are due this autumn, and utilities will surely use those findings to set new rates if the state allows it. People who get in before that change are expected to be grandfathered in.
So, good news for Luke–and maybe for you, too!
- You don’t have to do it all at once.
- You don’t have to redesign your entire life around it.
- You just have to start.
Give us a call: the gift is real, and it’s yours to claim.
–Matthew Barrett is the Solar Navigator at Power Trip Energy Corp, based in Port Townsend, WA. Power Trip Energy serves Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties and the surrounding region. Questions? Call us at (360) 643-3080 or fill out the form in the sidebar to know more.
by Matthew Barrett | Jun 8, 2026
Energy prices are climbing at rates we haven’t seen in decades, and if you have been shocked by your recent bills, you’re not alone. Between record-high gas prices and double-digit utility hikes, the perception that something has changed is real.
But here’s the good news: You don’t have to be a passive passenger on this ride.
Why is this happening?
Electricity is rising for a few reasons:
- The Data Boom: The explosion of AI and cloud computing has created an insatiable demand for electricity.
- The “Electrification” Trend: As more homes move away from gas and toward heat pumps and generally replace consumption of gas and propane with electricity, which is a very good thing.
- Electric Vehicles: The conversion of our personal transportation, and more busses and delivery vehicles to EV’s is a positive trend resulting in lower costs overall, but definitely contributing to increasing electrical demand.
- Grid Infrastructure: Locally, utilities like Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and our regional PUDs are raising rates. Some have seen 12% increases this year alone, with rate structures already approved for 30% increases over the next three years.
Oil, gasoline and diesel have their own issues leading to higher prices:
- Global Instability: While the US is a leading oil producer, our prices are still tethered to a global system. Recent conflicts have sent gas prices in Washington to a record-breaking $5.67 per gallon this month. Increasing domestic oil production has not helped secure US energy independence.
- Oil Companies and Cartels Serve Shareholders and Producers, Not Customers: Oil companies and petro-states face intense pressure to maximize profits in whatever manner possible. In the US, oil companies have a much more powerful voice to influence policy in Washington DC than individual citizens.
The “K-Shaped” Reality
Economists have called the present situation the “K-shaped economy.” Financial educator Peter Atwater originally used the term to describe the uneven recovery after COVID-19, but it is now recognized as the “new normal” for the US economy. In the US, we see a shrinking middle class and the gap between rich and poor is growing. While the wealthy see their assets grow, middle-class families are being pulled down by the rising cost of food, staples, and—most aggressively—energy.
A 2025/2026 Dept. of Energy study highlighted that 1 in 3 households now struggle to pay their energy bills. For many people on the Olympic Peninsula, this phenomenon is a direct threat to their long-term financial stability.
The Solution: Building Your Own “Energy Hedge”
You can cross your fingers and hope for better government policy, but I don’t recommend waiting to be helped. The most effective way to protect your family is to decouple your lifestyle from the global energy market. We should all strive to live full lives while not consuming excess energy, however for the energy we do use, there is a better way.
- Solar as a Fixed Cost: When you install solar, you aren’t “buying” power anymore; you’re “owning” it. You trade an unpredictable, rising monthly expense for a fixed, one-time investment. The daily solar energy reaching your home is available for you with no middle-man.
- The EV Advantage: Combining solar with an Electric Vehicle allows you to “fuel” your car with the sunshine hitting your roof. Even with Washington’s high gas taxes and $5+ per gallon prices, your “per gallon” equivalent with solar is essentially pennies.
- Local Incentives: While federal credits have shifted, Washington still offers a Sales Tax Exemption on solar installations through 2029, saving you 9-10% right off the top.
Making these investments in your personal energy policy are one way you can make sure you don’t get stuck on that downward arm of the “K”.
A Note to Our Community: Many of you reading this have already made the switch. You’ve seen the meters run backward and felt the relief of a $10-20 electric bill in the summer (base rate only with no kWh charges.). Would you consider forwarding this to one friend or neighbor? Helping our community become energy-independent is how we protect our clients and keep our local economy more stable and resilient against these external shocks.
23 Years of Local Expertise
We’ve spent over two decades on the Olympic Peninsula helping over 1,200+ families take control of their energy future. We understand local microclimates and the specific requirements of our local utilities.
Ready to see the math for your own home? Click here to request a custom Solar Assessment or give us a call. Let’s make sure the only thing rising this summer is the sun—not your power bill.
by Andy Cochrane | May 6, 2026
In a recent Jefferson PUD newsletter, there was a thoughtful essay from Dan Toepper, one of the three JPUD commissioners. At Power Trip Energy we feel fortunate JPUD has three commissioners who manage the present as well as look ahead. His essay is linked here https://www.jeffpud.org/the-power-squeeze/
Commissioner Toepper calls our attention to the forecasted trends of increasing power demand and decreasing power generation capacity. The increase is from population growth and data centers taking advantage of the PNW cheap power. The decrease is a result of carbon-based (coal) plant retirements and potential decrease in hydroelectric generation, for reasons both voluntary and climate-wise. These troubling trends are compounded by grid congestion, which isn’t just a local issue; it’s a regional one involving organizations like the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), which manages the “highways” of our power grid.
He points out that responses to these issues will certainly cause increasing electricity prices no matter what path we take. He correctly points out that one of the smartest things we can do is alleviate this pressure upon ourselves through efficiency and energy conservation. We could all use the reminder to ourselves that once we’ve met the basic needs, our quality of life is not dependent on how much energy we consume.
The commissioner mentions the use of natural gas power plants for meeting current demand increases as a bridge to what comes later. I do believe it is possible to meet demand growth with a combination of renewables, utilization of storage, intelligent load shifting, and energy conservation. Renewables plus storage can create We can thereby eliminate the need for future increase in carbon-based fossil fuel consumption. While allocating our resources in this manner would require more dollar investment under our current economic models, I feel the benefits of decreased pollution are worth it, not to mention the political benefits of being less dependent upon fossil fuels and all of the economic sensibility and liberty that brings.
As an individual you will not have much effect on national energy policy, and unless I am imagining things, the fossil fuel industry has a much more controlling say in how things go with our federal government than you do. The good news is that you can control your personal energy policy starting right now. Your choice to invest in rooftop solar PV can help alleviate these coming pressures for yourself and your community. We are here to help you evaluate your options and install the most sensible, effective and robust solar array for your home.
8.4 kW PV system with Maxeon PV modules, Port Townsend, May 2025
by Andy Cochrane | Mar 20, 2026
This week marked a change in direction of our federal government’s energy policy. While previous administrations have supported renewable energy goals and honored our commitments to the international community regarding climate goals, the incoming administration will be working to reverse those efforts.
The new president stated that he was taking action to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate (again) stating “I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill. America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth. And we are going to use it. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again. And it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”
For our part we do not agree with this proposed national energy policy. We do not agree that this is a reasonable path to wealth for anyone other than oil companies and gas utilities, nor is it sustainable for the environment.
We have spent over two decades installing solar in order to make the cleanest electricity possible at the point of use, to the benefit of our clients that own the solar arrays on their roofs. Over 1200 of our clients have installed rooftop solar arrays on the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas, and electric vehicle charging equipment, and have electrified where they can in order to save money and replace the burning of polluting fossil fuels.
If your goals for a personal energy policy involve making clean energy and saving money on your bills, please email or call to learn more about how solar could work at your home.
by Andy Cochrane | Jan 24, 2025
The incoming administration’s position on energy provides interesting insight into what is to be expected from the federal government in the next four years. The new administration will surely be friendlier to coal mining, oil drilling onshore and offshore, and fracking for natural gas.
https://greatagain.gov/energy-independence-69767de8166#.zce8a6e9p
If implemented, those strategies will degrade our natural environment, lease our public lands to their cronies at low rates, increase our transfer rate of carbon currently locked in the ground into the air as CO2, increase our contribution to climate change, and increase your dependence on the oil tyrants.
My personal response will be to enlarge the solar PV arrays at my home and business, and make certain as much of my driving as possible is in an electric vehicle.
In this way I can decrease my personal contribution to the negative aspects of the administration’s carbon-based fossil fuel plans, and minimize my financial support of the centralized energy corporations, while keeping more of my money available to invest in my own family’s future.
Morgan Residence, 6.9 KW SunPower, Port Angeles, June 2016
by Andy Cochrane | Dec 20, 2016
“Net Metering” describes the relationship between a utility and its customer when the customer has rooftop solar that is sometimes feeding the grid in addition to supporting their own loads, and the customer is compensated at the same rate as they are charged per kwh consumed or provided. In Washington, we have a net metering law requiring utilities to accept net metering systems up to a total capacity of 0.5% of the 1996 peak load. For more info read here https://powertripenergy.com/solar-faq/
Many utilities are now reaching that level, and due to the PR efforts of national electric industry interests, some local utilities are using language they have heard which threatens solar here in Washington. Increasing the legislative caps on net metering is crucially important to allowing private individuals the freedom to invest their own funds in upgrading their house with solar, and being compensated at a fair rate for the clean electricity they provide to the utility. Unfortunately the legislature has had a difficult time addressing this issue, even though the present cap of 0.5% of a peak load from 20 years ago is miniscule.
Here is how three other states are faring, based on recent news:
Hawaii’s Utility commission has voted to end net metering after seeing solar on as many as 16% of the homes on Oahu. This is poor policy, and will probably lead to grid-defection among some people who can afford batteries and who have large parcels (Hawaii law requires utility electrical service on standard small residential lots.) http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/hawaii-regulators-shutdown-hecos-net-metering-program
New York regulators have suspended the caps on net metering in an effort not to interrupt installations as reaching the current 6% of load cap is imminent. http://www.utilitydive.com/news/ny-regulators-lift-solar-net-metering-caps-until-rev-docket-sets-der-values/407667/
In Vermont, the net metering cap was raised from 4% to 15% two years ago, a cap that has now been reached. Regulators are considering removing the cap. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/24/vermont-reaching-net-metering-cap-with-solar-expan/
Based on the level of solar other states are working to achieve, if you hear anyone talking about solar causing problems in Washington at 0.5% capacity, your response should be skepticism.
by Andy Cochrane | Oct 26, 2015
Environment Washington has released a report calculating a 56% increase in solar pv installed in Washington State last year over the existing capacity. A 56% increase in capacity in one year is tremendous, and agrees with our experience and observations.
http://environmentwashington.org/news/wae/new-report-solar-energy-person-grew-56-percent-washington-state-last-year
We are seeing a similar increase in 2015, and forecast that we will again see that increase over 2015 in 2016. A portion of this growth has been driven by the decrease in price of solar pv modules, and a portion of 2016’s growth will be due to the expiration of the Federal 30% tax credit.
To qualify for the 30% Federal Tax Credit on solar, a project must be complete by Dec 31, 2016. We are currently booking projects for Spring of 2016, and we forecast that our installation calendar for 2016 will be filled before the middle of next year. We are also still looking for another qualified licensed electrician to join our team and further increase our installation capacity.
For solar capacity to continue to grow at this rate in Washington after the conclusion of federal incentives, we need to increase our net metering capacity by updating our once progressive but now dated net metering law. Increasing our state’s required net metering capacity requires no expenditures on the part of the state or utilities, it merely enables individuals and business to invest their own money in upgrading their facilities with solar.
by Andy Cochrane | Oct 23, 2015
I recently came across this interesting info-graphic. It is a couple of years old now and does not apply to Washington State. It mentions how different states look at determining a reasonable amount of power generation that can come from net metered solar, and uses examples of 15%, 25% (Hawaii), or 50% (California) and different thresholds to use as a basis for those percentages.
Here in Washington State, utilities are only required to allow 0.5% of the 1996 peak load – such a low threshold it is ridiculously limiting. Thankfully the utilities in which we have surpassed this threshold have seen no problems with allowing additional net metering systems. In the coming months we will be working closely with our legislators to address this archaic and potentially stifling limitation before it negatively affects our clients and our community.
Enjoy this explanatory graphic:
http://ilsr.org/archiac-utility-rules-stall-local-solar-infographic/
Another beautiful ground mounted array for beautiful people in Poulsbo, October 2014.
by Andy Cochrane | Oct 30, 2014
The year 2011 was a good year for big solar in the US, in terms of large scale projects (1 megawatt and larger). Utility-scale installations are on a dramatic upswing, surpassing the growth-rate and overall megawatt capacity of residential installations, and nearly equal to the commercial pv installations in 2011. Larry Sherwood has published a preview of his 2011 national market survey in the July/Aug 2012 issue of Solar Today, not yet online but soon to be digital athttp://ases.org/solar-today-magazine/ His study is commissioned by IREC and the full report will be available later this summer at http://www.irecusa.org/news-events/publications-reports/
Much of this flurry of activity is the result of the closing window of the US 1603 Grant Program, in which commercial and utility sector installations qualified for a 30% grant from the federal government, in lieu of the 30% tax credit, which is also available for residential projects. While the tax credit is in place until 2016, the 1603 grant had a very short window of existence. It was authorized by law in 2009, but wasn’t really available until 2010 after a lengthy rules-making process by the Treasury Dept. The grant expired at the end of 2011, and was the subject of much press and concern among our clients, though this did not affect them at all, since we install nearly exclusively in the residential sector.
The purpose of the grant was to make the same 30% federal incentive available in cases where the project owners did not have sufficient tax liability to take advantage of the tax credit. It is often the case that a large project will be undertaken by an LLC, S-Corp, or some other form of business unit created exclusively for the development of that particular project. The corporations don’t have any tax liability until after the projects become profitable, and so it is problematic for them to take the tax credits for the initial development. The 1603 grant in lieu of tax credit solved this problem for developers, but only for a relatively short time. The brief window of opportunity is difficult for developers of large projects to put together ownership groups, financing, insurance, permitting, any required environmental mitigations, etc. We are lucky to have the stable tax policy for the basic tax credit for the residential and small commercial installations we address.
A couple of times a week, people send me news and notice of a new large scale, ground-mounted, utility-scale pv installation being installed. I have reservations about these projects for several reasons. I should start by saying that of course they are preferable to a new coal plant, before I express my concerns about them. From an environmental stand-point, they are tremendously superior to other power plants. There are downsides to all activity, but from a perspective of pollutants and environmental hazards, the large scale pv power plants are better in every respect.
There are three main problems I see with these utility scale pv projects however. Some people have the opinion that these plants are going in hitherto-unused land, usually in the middle of a desert. I have spent some time in deserts in the American south west, and while you can successfully find places with no people, there is no “unused” land. There is definitely habitat degradation that occurs in conjunction with these activities, and some of the species affected are already highly impacted by human development.
Whether that impact is anywhere near comparable to the impact that would be the result of a similarly sized coal plant – I doubt it, but is truthfully beyond my ability to answer. I have seen some of these projects installed in formerly used agricultural land in California that is now fallow for some reason – most likely due to unsustainable farming practices. I would rather see agricultural reclamation of these areas as I know that most of southern California is in sore need of cleaner air and water, and that sound organic agricultural practices are probably a fine way to have a positive impact on air and water locally. Covering the ground with pv modules may power Fresno’s air conditioners, but doesn’t contribute to the overall solutions, of which some perennial agriculture could address. Instead of covering land that is home to some of the unique plants and animals of the earth, wouldn’t it be better to put solar panels over areas that are truly not used, such as over land we’ve already covered with concrete, asphalt, or buildings?
Secondly, there is inefficiency in transmission. By placing a large pv array hundreds of miles from the point of use, we need fairly expensive transmission infrastructure, complete with huge rights of way and also power losses inherent in transmission. This centralized power production model is the traditional mode of power generation and transmission. If you need more energy, just build more power plants and more transmission lines. To this line of thinking, any big problem just requires a bigger hammer. There is much more efficiency and elegance in created the power at the point of use. Doesn’t it make more sense to avoid the inherent inefficiencies of transmission and make power where and when it is needed?
Perhaps the biggest problem with these utility-scale pv plants is that in effect, they are privatizing a democratically distributed natural resource. I have a funny feeling when I see my environmentalist friends celebrating these large pv installations, or forwarding to me a graphic showing how pv in North Africa could provide enough energy for the whole world. Sure, it’s better than a coal plant environmentally, but there is a major problem with the economic model. Without delving too much into politics or philosophy, perhaps I can explain this best if I just say I want my own solar power and I don’t want to pay The Man. Think about writing that check every month to the utility. Think about where that money goes. Even if you have a local public utility handling the local distribution network, the bulk of your electricity dollar goes to the people who are supplying the originally generated electricity, who own the power plants – and their bankers. I don’t want any of my money going to them.
The solution to all of these shortcomings is found within the model our company has pursued, appropriate to our scale and our community – that of distributed generation and individual ownership of local clean renewable energy systems. The utility scale model occupies land that is a natural resource, (commonly public land and fragile environments), distributes the power inefficiently, to the economic benefit of the investors and project developers. The individual scale project generally occupies rooftops, uses the power generated on-site or ships onto the grid and across the street to the neighbors, and provides the direct economic benefit to the homeowner.
I would guess that 1/3 of the homes in the US are occupied by their owners who either own their homes outright or have equity in their homes. I would also guess that at least here in the northwest, 1/3 of the homes have a good unshaded roof suitable for pv. So the bottom line is that until we’ve figured out a way to get solar onto the 1/9 (11%) of the homes that meet those two conditions, we probably shouldn’t spend much time swooning over massive utility-owned pv arrays in the desert.
There are many shades of gray between these two choices, including Community Solar projects such as the Ellensburg project pictured below, and there are lots of ways third parties are trying to get involved in such a manner as to skim the economic benefits from the homeowners in residential pv projects. No surprise there right? Community solar and project financing will be topics of subsequent articles.
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President Obama touting clean energy in front of 250 MW of First Solar pv in Boulder City, NV, 2012.
Project owned by Sempra US Gas & Power, NASDAQ symbol SRE
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Steve and Caleb of Power Trip Energy touting and installing clean community-owned solar, 13 KW of First Solar pv in Ellensburg, WA, 2009.
Project owned by Ellensburg electricity rate payers and administered by the City of Ellensburg, WA
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by Andy Cochrane | Jul 21, 2012
