All the construction of solar power projects in North Carolina is delivering more watts to customers – and national recognition to both Duke Energy as well as Dominion N.C. Power.
Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) says that in 2015 Duke rose to third place for adding new power among solar providers, up from fourth in 2014.
Making even more impressive gains, however, is Dominion N.C. which cracked the top 10, powering its way to sixth place.
Perhaps even more impressive is the fact Dominion N.C. now provides the second most solar watts per customer.
Duke ranks 10th in that category.
The rankings, which were disclosed Tuesday, were part of a U.S. solar industry snapshot provided by SEPA.
“We saw record installations of solar in 2015 across the United States. Our Top 10 survey results detail the scale of this growth, and the active role an increasing number of utilities are playing in it,” said Julia Hamm, SEPA’s President and CEO. “Consumers want solar, and their interest is driving change and innovation at utilities nationwide.”
Dominion N.C. provided 1,946 watts of additional solar per customer across 45 systems, according to the SEPA survey. That ranks only heind the 2,104 watts provided by one system in the Village of Minster, Ohio.
Duke provided an additional 354 watts on average to customers from 664 systems.
In the national rankings, Duke added 461 megawatts of solar, topped only by Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric.
Duke invested more than $500 million in N.C. projects last year, and more are to be built this year.
