Energy is the hot topic du jour, so how about we dabble in electrons through the lens of life in Chadds Ford. Enjoy this pop-up series, Energy in Chadds Ford, exploring conversations about energy in our neck of the woods.

birds eye view of a home woth rooftop solarl discussing Energy in Chadds Ford — Photo via TerraSol

So, about that PECO bill lately… 🤯 Or gas prices? 📈 And when energy gets more expensive, so does everything else. ☹️

Before I spark a conversation about clean energy in our lives, let me lay my cards on the table. ⚡ I’m a clean energy nerd. I’m not an industry expert or electrical engineer, but a committed clean energy stan. I’ve been low-key obsessed with learning about clean energy (and its place in the broader energy space) for years.

I’ll read just about anything about the past, present, and future of clean energy. I listen to all kinds of energy-dork podcasts from a variety of perspectives (greenies, policy wonks, tech bros, etc). Remember when I accidentally became a clean energy lobbyist?

My family and I live in an (almost) fully-electrified house, something we’ll discuss more in a minute. My husband and I both drive EVs. And I’m ~~low-key~~ obsessed with rooftop solar. 🏠

While I rarely talk in detail about my family for privacy reasons, I’d be remiss not to disclose, in a series of this nature, that my husband works in the energy industry. For the last two decades, he’s worked for a utility and a generation company (mostly nuclear and natural gas).

That being said, I nerd out on energy stuff of my own volition, but I suspect some might feel a lack of transparency if I didn’t share this consideration. So noted. ☑️ All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my husband or his employer.

Why am I so passionate about clean energy?

Partially because I’m just a big nerd and have been passionate about environmental sustainability for over a decade. 🤓 But also… clean energy is the future (climate be damned). I conceed all things energy are super complex. Please read this again: the energy industry is super complicated with so many players and nuances, so please don’t hear what I’m not saying. I don’t have all the answers, and no single person does. There’s too much to know. But the long-term prospects for renewables feel much too compelling not to embrace.

Meanwhile, fossil fuels are making a last-ditch effort to hang on as long as possible. They see the writing on the wall. ☠️ There’s a reason the industry vehemently hates renewable energy; they’re scared sh*itless of it. (Friends, if renewables could not outcompete fossil fuels in a fair market, the fossil fuel industry wouldn’t spend bagillions of dollars fighting and impeding renewables’ progress.) 💰💰💰

Clean energy, especially renewables, is too amazing and affordable for fossil fuels to compete at today’s scale in the long-long-long-term future. The industry knows it, and the transition might happen faster than we think, by collapse if not by design (check out this podcast for a deeper dive).

I’m very concerned that investing too heavily in new fossil fuels today locks us into a significantly subpar energy future for decades, as the rest of the world speeds ahead on a trajectory that embraces renewables (especially solar) at breakneck speed.

I’m not suggesting fossil fuels will see their final days this year or next. Not even close. But I think we’ve crossed the threshold where renewable energy (especially solar) will soon become less expensive than fossil fuel alternatives, and market forces will drive the demise of fossil fuels. Solar energy, including batteries, is already the cheapest form of new energy in many parts of the world.

Did you know the sun sends Earth 10,000 times more energy than we need? Data center needs are a drop in the ocean relative to the power of the sun. We already know how to harness it with solar panels and batteries, and the technology is getting better really fast! I suspect we will eventually have technology that makes energy practically free.

📌 Put a pin in this, because we will take a harder look in a later article at the many reasons I think solar is the ultimate energy winner over fossil fuels. Physics, finance, and geopolitics have a lot to do with it.

What does electrified living look like in Chadds Ford?

Since moving into our home about a decade ago, we’ve slowly transitioned to electrification and away from fossil fuels as components have needed replacement. What does that look like?

We replaced our oil-fueled furnace with an electric heat pump (that also has a propane backup option and a whole-home generator). A heat pump is a very efficient way to heat and cool a home, so the electricity to run the heat pump, plus the cost of propane for the backup element, is less than what we paid to heat our house with oil. It also gives us a much more evenly distributed temperature control than we had in the past. We hired local small business, Chadds Ford Complete Services, to do the installation and service maintenance.
When our gas stove took a turn for the worse, we replaced it with an electric induction cooktop. There’s a brief learning curve to get comfortable with the new heating source, but I’m happy our kitchen is free of the indoor air pollution that came from the flames of our old stove. We used Delaware-based National Appliance Warehouse for this transition and had a great experience.
My husband and I both drive fully electric cars (SUVs, specifically). We share one 240-volt outlet in our garage (neither car needs to be charged every night). Our boys play ice hockey, so we regularly travel long distances by car. Yes, you can take a road trip in an EV. We both love driving electric and will likely never go back to gas-powered vehicles. ✨ I knew I’d love not having to stop for gas, but I love it even more than I imagined.
We got rooftop solar! I love, love, love it. ☀️ We hired TerraSol, a local Chadds Ford solar installer that’s been in business for decades, to install our rooftop solar system. We save hundreds of dollars each month on our energy bill, and expect to recover our costs in about 7 years. The panels last for 20-25 years, so after year 7, any energy generated by the panels will effectively be free. For perspective, last August our PECO bill was about $40 (in the summer!). In January, our PECO bill was just under $500. These costs include transportation (i.e., effectively gas) for two SUVs, because we charge them almost exclusively at home. So basically, $40 in August and $500 in January for “electricity + gasoline” in Chadds Ford.
Because we have rooftop solar and drive EVs, we opted for time-of-use energy through PECO. This means we pay different rates for energy use depending on the time of day and day of the week. Essentially, our electricity is more expensive than “regular” rates from 2-6 pm Monday through Friday and far less expensive anytime outside of those “peak” windows. You can read more about time-of-use energy here. We charge our cars between midnight and 6 am when our energy rates are the lowest.
We still have a propane-powered instant water heater. It’s working well for now, so we’ll consider replacing it with an electric alternative when its time is up.
We don’t have a residential battery yet. “Yet” is the key word. 🔋I would love to add a battery to our rooftop solar system. For now, it was more expensive than it made sense, given that we already have a whole-home generator and have the benefits of net metering from PECO. The complexities of this decision process are beyond the scope of this article, but I anticipate we will add a battery system to our home down the road.

All of these considerations combine to give us more energy independence and more predictable energy costs. While we made upfront investments in some cases, savings over the life of those investments (especially rooftop solar) will more than pay for themselves and save us a lot of money in the long term. Not to mention, we are much less sensitive (at least directly) to the roller coaster of oil prices due to weather events, market changes, and the current geopolitical chaos in the Middle East.

Will fully electrified living work for everyone in Chadds Ford?

Right now, probably not. In the future, maybe (and most likely). I can’t speak for everyone in Chadds Ford, but heat pumps, induction stoves, and EVs are pretty universally functional for most residents.

🚙 Electric vehicles

EVs can be annoying if you can’t charge at home or at work, so for those without access to a charger where they live or work, EVs might not be ideal for now. I anticipate the infrastructure will be available eventually, but we aren’t there yet. However, if you can charge at home (and most of us in Chadds Ford can), EVs offer a stellar driving experience.

If you follow the news on EVs, you’ve likely seen that some traditional car companies have pulled back on EV production because they believe the market for EVs is weakening. However, the rest of the world is leaving us behind.

China is investing heavily in very affordable, high-performance EVs, thanks in part to companies like Apple training Chinese manufacturers in cutting-edge advanced electronics manufacturing skills that can be easily applied from smartphones to cars. Don’t believe me? Check this out and read the book. 😬

Currently, Chinese vehicles face 100% tariffs when entering the United States to protect our domestic vehicle production (probably because they’d outcompete American alternatives without the tariffs – i.e., the Chinese cars are better).

Canada recently signed an agreement allowing China to import EVs into the country. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Americans see what we’re missing and demand we have access to those vehicles too (most likely through production in the United States).

In short, I bet we’ll all be driving (or riding in autonomous) EVs someday in the not-so-distant future. 🚗

Residential solar

Rooftop solar in our community, with so many wooded areas, won’t work for everyone right now. If your roof is often shaded, it’s probably not a great investment today. As prices decline, alternatives like ground-mounted solar and community solar will make powering your home with love from the sun ☀️ a more viable option. Nevertheless, I bet there are many homes in Chadds Ford that are perfect candidates for residential solar installations and could save a lot on their PECO bills!

📌 Also, put a pin in a growing DIY opportunity called balcony solar. It’s hugely successful in a handful of other countries and is making inroads in the United States (including Pennsylvania). We’ll come back to this another day.

Why talk about energy in a community newsletter?

Because this is where we begin to envision what a future-forward, electro-tech world looks like for regular people like us. We are where the rubber meets the road (hopefully on a vehicle powered by electrons).

The policy wonks can wonk. The greenies can wax poetic about carbon-free. The bros can bro out about tech stacks, transistors, and venture financing. But what does that all look like for us, and how do we get there?

I’d love to know what questions you have for me. I’ll do my best to answer them. I’m happy to share the ins and outs of living a life electrified, even in the ‘burbs. It’s more than possible.

What do you think about the future of clean energy in our community?⚡ Let’s light this conversation up!