The Duke Energy PowerPair pilot launched in May. The program offers up to $9,000 upfront to customers who install residential solar and battery systems. So far, more than 1,300 people are already enrolled — about a third of the program’s total capacity.
Jim Warren, the executive director of clean energy watchdog NC WARN, said the significant upfront cost of a new solar system is still a barrier for lower-income homeowners. NC WARN proposed an alternative to state regulators — Duke ratepayers cover the whole cost of solar and battery installations for any interested homeowner, business or organization, as they do with large-scale energy generation projects.
“What North Carolina and a lot of other places really need is to be generating and storing power where it is being used whenever that is possible,” Warren said.
He also said the pilot project should be extended into a full program without a cap, something Duke has not yet announced plans to do.
Duke isn’t alone in developing residential energy programming. Earlier this year, North Carolina received over $150 million in federal funds to develop EnergizeNC, which aims to deploy residential solar and battery systems in “low-income and disadvantaged communities” across the state. The program is planned to launch next fall.
Duke will continue accepting applications for PowerPair until it reaches its 30-megawatt capacity for each service territory.
