“…based on the free choice of individuals to cooperate – without financial reward being their basic motive – for the accomplishment of common goals or projects”

What difference does the “basic motive” make?

Good questions. The short answer is, I don’t really know.

I have several “unverified assumptions” that I have gathered from various things I’ve heard and read. On the basis of those assumptions I opted in to paying a “Green Power Switch” surcharge on my Huntsville Utilities monthly bill. But I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of my assumptions were wrong.

If I wanted to get real facts I would go to one or more of the green power producers I listed above, rather than to TVA or local utility PR offices.

One of my assumptions is that the surcharge I pay goes to various incentives to the green producers in the program. It could be going down some bureaucratic rat hole instead, for all I know.

I have heard that producers use a smart meter that runs both ways, but I haven’t verified this. It may vary from one utility district to another. The “Green Power Switch” is a TVA program that local utilities like mine can opt into.

Again, if I or anyone else wanted to know more the best source of information would probably be the nearest participating producer(s).

PR

In many cases net-metering pays the green power producers more than the retail rate for the electricity they produce, and green power consumers also pay a small premium.

Does this mean, that green power consumers pay the difference the producers get more, or do all consumers pay the difference — or how else does the subvention for the producers work? By law? By contract?

How does it work practically? Do the producers have two meters (one for production and one for consumption)? Or do they use reverse-metering with one intelligent meter?

“Each customer is a member and owner of the business with an equal say as every other member of the cooperative, unlike investor-owned utilities where the amount of say is governed by the number of shares held.

Many such cooperatives exist in the rural United States, and were created by the New Deal [2] to bring electric power and telephone service to rural areas, when the nearest investor-owned utility would not provide service, believing there would be insufficient revenue to justify the capital expenditures required.”

Many, if not most, of the community based electric cooperatives now offer members additional services such as energy audits and financing of conservation measures.

Another successful program in the US is the The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Wikipedia says:

“The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression… TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to rapidly modernize the region’s economy and society.”

The TVA has a small “Green Power Switch” program that encourages green energy production within its service area(most of Tennessee, parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia). In many cases net-metering pays the green power producers more than the retail rate for the electricity they produce, and green power consumers also pay a small premium. Some examples of small, local producers of solar power participating in TVA’s Green Power Switch program include:

Lovers Lane soccer complex, Bowling Green, Kentucky (36 kW capacity)
Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, Tennessee (85 kW)
Gibson County High School, Dyer, Tennessee (18 kW)
Florence, Alabama water treatment facility (30 kW)
Sci-Quest science museum, Huntsville, Alabama (27 kW)
Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, Tennessee (15 kW)
Bridges Center, Memphis, Tennessee (25 kW)
Adventure Science Center, Nashville, Tennessee (27 kW)
Cocke County High School, Newport, Tennessee (9 kW)
American Museum of Science and Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (15 kW)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (7 kW)
University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi (30 kW)
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (two 18 kW facilities)
Duffield-Pattonsville Elementary School, Scott County, Virginia (9 kW)
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi (15 kW)

“The TVA was controversial in the 1930s. Historian Thomas McCraw concludes (1971 p 157) that Roosevelt “rescued the [power] industry from its own abuses” but “he might have done this much with a great deal less agitation and ill will.” New Dealers hoped to build numerous other TVAs around the country but were defeated by Wendell Willkie and the Conservative coalition in Congress.” (Wikipedia)

Although the TVA has been largely diverted from its original New Deal aspirations and coopted by conservative influences (as usual), there is little doubt that it greatly accelerated the provision of electricity and water to its predominantly rural service area, promoted rapid economic development, and improved the standard of living of millions.

PR