Originally Posted by
Monte Milanuk
Without getting into the specifics of how a particular utility does business... there's a little more to it than them just re-selling what you are 'giving' them. O&M costs on lines - particularly distribution systems, as someone noted above - are considerable. Some of that isn't just the cost of the copper wire between you and wherever the electrons eventually end up; it's maintaining all the protective devices that keep you, the supplier, and the customer, safe from shenanigans on either end of the line. Some of it's federally mandated requirements to maintain a certain amount of reserve power available, simply in the event that there is a large grid fluctuation, ready to help recover the system voltage and frequency. While on the one hand, it would seem like customer sell-back power would be a great booster for that reserve requirement... I have some serious doubts about it's viability in a practical sense. Solar (and wind, and most 'renewables' other than large scale hydro) pretty much sucks at providing grid stability. Kinda need stuff with 'big iron' behind it somewhere in the system to provide that kind of resilience.
Add to that that the utility has no idea - and no control - over how much you might be supplying at any point in time, or how reliable your system actually is or isn't... it doesn't surprise me that they put such a low $$$ value on your power. Power prices can fluctuate wildly throughout the day, dependent on all manner of things. Supplying them with 'extra' power that they don't really need just means they have to jump through hoops to keep it from adversely affecting things. Most of the time they've already bought and paid for their expected power needs on long-term contracts at bulk rates which are very, very cheap.
Why would they pay you a premium for your excess, simply because you couldn't calculate your power needs better and need to get rid of it?
Spoiler: yes, I do work 'in the industry', albeit about as far away from Florida as you can get and still be in 'CONUS' aka WA state, and no, I don't work in retail/distribution (any more) - I'm in the (hydro) generation side of things.