What is a purchase power agreement?
A PPA is a purchase power agreement which gives customers an agreed upon rate for electricity generated by a system.
Where can I find information on States’ PPA legality status?
How does Kansas’ legislative policy interact with PPA’s
Kansas is noted as having “unclear or unknown” PPA legislation directly tied to the unclear definition of what a “public utility” is in K.S.A 66-104. As a 3rd party allowing users to lease a solar system could be viewed as selling electricity in the retail market.
How would a PPA operate?
For a communal setup it would seem most advantageous to have the solar company first secure these fixed rate agreements with a group of customers who would then agree to lease the photo-voltaic system and continue to pay the company based on the fixed rate for the term of the lease, likely 15 to 20 years, in exchange for the company’s construction and maintenance of the system.
Advantages/Disadvantages of a PPA?
Communal solar offers those with less readily available income the opportunity to participate in the benefits of solar energy, but because of that the signing of PPA’s offers much less financial return over the term of the lease than the self-purchasing of a system, and as of 2014 the popularity of financing this way has dropped steadily. In terms of how much the PPA agreement should be, the cheapest solar PPA you will see is 14 cents per kWH with an annual escalation fee over the lifetime of the agreement. Another hurdle other than the decreased financial return for leasers is the large time investment (15 or 20 years) required to sign the lease, and the difficulty of transferring or breaking the lease should the need arise.
Kansas Solar Policies 